The 4 Seasonal Boarding School
by Espeon and Umbreon
Summary: School starts off just like any other, you meet your dorm-mates. You go to class. You take tests. Spend time with friends. Go to Dances...but at this school there is one thing different...The Seasonal Years have an effect on the campus grounds, so noticeable that the wrong crowd enters the picture...Team Rocket, Magma, Aqua, Galactic, and possibly a whole new threat! OcxOc as well
1. Dawn's arrival

_**So this is the Co-Op of this story. It's the first part of the first chapter! Enjoy!**_

Chapter 1: Meeting the Roommates Part 1

A girl with long blue hair the came down to her waist was walking down a hall dressed in her new school uniform. She had just gotten the last of the editing done to it so it could fit her normally. She was a small girl for her age, barely coming up on 5ft. She was dressed in her full uniform. Her tie and skirt had the color of red which marked her as a freshman. In her hand was her suitcase filled with carry-on stuff and in her other hand was a strange blank card with only the read of 34D Princess Suite. She continued her way down the empty hallway, looking for her dorm number as she made her way up the stairs. Her shoes made the sounds of the heels clanking on the marble flooring. Soon she found herself at the last part of the dorm, which was at an elevator that was marked: Private access to rooms 30D to 34D. Near the elevator was a card key slot, with a slide of the blank card, a soft green light glowed and turned on which opened the doors to the elevator. Now open and with her inside, the doors closed. There was no buttons to push to go to any floors, but instead a key pad for a code.

The girl looked at her blank card, only now it had a number printed on it. So she typed it in carefully, to make sure she did not make a mistake of what numbers and letters were pushed. She made sure to have the correct lettering capitalize and the right numbers in the correct places. After the last letter was entered, the elevator made the sounds of going up and opened, allowing the shine of natural light come into the small space of the elevator. Once she stepped out of the small space, a new key card slid out with her face, name, and ID information. She took her Student ID as she looked at it with a slightly curiosity on how it has a 'right now' picture of how she looks. Her picture was just like now, with part of her hair tied back in a small ponytail over the rest of her hair. She then looked around to see if there was anyone else around. Not a person to be seen, strange though, since the dorm was fully furnished and stocked on every day items. The bathroom had a large bath tub, four separate toilets each with their own privacy, a four row showering systems, four sinks and one towel closet. The bathroom was stocked with every basic item, right down to the shampoo and conditioner.

As she moved out of the bathroom, she came to the kitchen. There were only non-perishable foods in the pantry, nicely stored food in the fridge, master chef pots and pans stored on the hover shelves, a double oven and stove, the dishwasher was of the highest grade and the sink was more than a double. The counter space was like it was made to hold tons of food as if it was for a banquet. The final thing in the kitchen that was noticeable from a glance was the full spice rack. The silverware was decent, not overly expensive or completely cheap, it seemed to be the more reliable kind of silverware. In the kitchen there was a dinning room type place, with a couch that could seat three and two love seats that were on both sides of the couch. The flooring was wooden mostly, around the items there was rugs that they stood on. The couches and love seats were facing a 32inch flat screen TV that stood on a table. The girl with the blue hair moved to a screen door that led to an indoor green house. It was like a out-deck that had life shining in all the plants. There was tropical plants and flowers, lush green bushel, a vivid vegetable patch of a ton of yummy looking veggies, and a wonderful Rose Bush with fountains springing water into the air.

The girl saw that there was more to the dorm area on the other side of the rose bush, but was being blocked with caution tape used for construction and development. So she turned back to go find her dorm room. As she moved around to find the dorm room title 34D she noticed that the dorm's numbers have named in them in a form of electronic, though it was hard to see clearly due to the dimness of the device. But she found the room 34D with a card key to slide instead of a normal key to unlock it. With a slide of her Student ID, the name slide lit up green with her name, Dawn Berlitz. After a second or two the sound of the lock, made a click sound to indicate that it was now unlocked. As she opened the door to her dorm room, she was now facing a brighter color.

Her room was similar to her room back at her house. In her room she saw her luggage was right next to her double sized bed. The bed frame was a dark oak wood while the bed sheets were a pale purple, not quite lavender, and her pillows were snow white and off white. Her walls were a soft pale pink, so soft that without light you might think it was a white paint job. Her window was facing out into the city's direction with the curtains covering parts of the window of where they laid closed. The curtains were a nice shade of light pink, just not a light as the walls. Near her window was a wooden desk with a wooden chair. They were both painted white, with the drawers on the desk painted with a blush pink but the handles stayed white, the chair's cushion was a plush blush pink with a beautiful Victorian style design along the back of the chair. Her closet was a walk-in with a little extra space since her room was more or less the farthest away from the inner parts of the building. At the foot of the bed frame was a chest with a really nice oak wood design on it, the colors of the design were a normal pink and a normal purple. Dawn's name was written near the lock in a fancy engravement. She smiled as she looked around her room as she decorated it with her personal items. She started to wonder to herself what kind of year would be in store for her…

_**Now this was chapter 1 part 1 and as you can see it was Dawn's part…next will made and out soon! This is Umbreon, signing out!**_


	2. May's appearance

_**Well here is the next part!**_

Chapter 1 part 2: Meeting the Roommates

As the afternoon started to slowly change into the evening hour, a car of a sleek black design pulled up to the schools dorm. With no one around or watching, a girl with a sun hat that covered most of her face and a pair of sun glasses that covered her eyes made her way into the girls dorm. As she did the sleek black car took off with out a split second to lose. Her choice of clothing was a very street casual wear, seemingly though it made her seem to stand out as a boy, if it were not for the obvious features that pointed out the fact she was in-deed a girl. She held in her passion nothing much, just a normal carry-on. Such as her cell phone, her car keys, her mp3 and a blank key card. She took her time surveying the area to make sure she was familiar with how to escape from any floor if in a need be situation. As she made her way up and towards the elevator, she slid the card which allowed her inside.

The key pass code was different for her, like everyone in the Princess Suite. As she is entering the code the elevator allows her to receive her Student ID as she is exiting the area. Once in the safety of the suite, she took off her hat which let down shoulder length brown hair. Following of which she took off her sunglasses to reveal her stunning sapphire blue eyes. She made her way to the dorm rooms, walking past room 34D she saw that the room's name was green, which meant she was not the first one to arrive. Though she wanted to meet with the person she would be seeing a lot for the next four years, she knew she hand to make sure her stuff and her room was not messed with since the last time she was in the area. As she slid her card key and entered her room she looked around briefly and smiled as she moved around the room.

Her walls were a dull red that had a soft smoky affect. Her bed was a double; the bed frame was a very dark maple color and wooden frame. Her bed spread was a dark blue and red while her pillows were a normal purple. At the foot of her bed was a chest that was made of maple wood with really nice exotic designs over it. On this chest was her name in a fancy writing that spelled out May Maple. Over off into a corner was her only window, it showed both the city and the beach that lies over the rolling hills, though she did not have any curtains but instead she had really thick blinds. Near her window was her desk and chair. Although it was metal the wooden parts were black and grey toned. The chairs cushion was nicely designed with a plaid scheme of black and grey. Standing in her double door closet was her school uniform. She had it pre-delivered to her dorm room so it would get forgotten or ruined in the travel to the school.

As she moved around her room setting things into place the smell of cooking meat reached her nose. The smell of onion, green bell peppers garlic fermented around the room. May smiled as she followed the smell. She soon found herself in the kitchen were a girl with long blue hair that was being pulled back was standing in front of the stove cooking some ground beef. Understanding that she was the girl from 34D…Dawn Berlitz, she made the first move to introduce herself…just like she was taught…

Though Dawn was looking down at some spices trying to figure out what she wanted to put in the ground beef. Her face the thoughtful and very focused and intense. She didn't seem to completely notice that May had entered the kitchen. "Oregano and Basil would be okay to put into the mix…" May stated as she handed the two spices to Dawn.

Dawn jumped back a little, startled slightly but not too much. She smiled kindly as she put in the desired amount into the mix. "So what are you making? I'll help with making a side dish." May said as she pulled out a mixing bowl and cooking tray. "I'm making spaghetti for dinner tonight. If you want, you can make the bread while I finish the sauce and penne noodles." Dawn smiled. "I'm Dawn of room 34D."

"I'm May Maple of room 32D." May held out her hand that was covered in flour to Dawn to shake of which Dawn smiled and shook her hand getting some of the left over spices onto her hand. They both started to cook or prepare the food for its completion. "So are you famous or from a famous family?" Dawn asked as she started to cook in some salt and pepper to the ground beef as it was finishing up cooking.

"Famous family, my mother is a famous home designer, my kid brother is a counted as a child star genius and my father is a famous athlete. We came from Hoenn to here…it's not as bright as back home but still…it has a certain charm…" May smiled as she mixed together the ingredients. "How about you Dawn?"

"Famous family as well, my mother is a famous actor and my dad was a war hero." Dawn said as she started to finish the noodles. "The only way to get into this dorm suite is either to be famous or have enough money to pay for each quarter of renting a room…" Dawn stated as she carefully stirred the water and as she added the tomato sauce to the ground beef.

"My mom designed this dorm to fit many different needs. And since in I'm this dorm for the next four years, she is edited it for what I need or want. The parts that are under development are on the other side of the garden as well as dorm room 30D." May stated as she started to knee the dough. "Is she coming to finish before school starts next week?"

"Yup, in a few days, do you want something specific?" May smiled as she kneed the yeast into the dough. "If she has the time…" Dawn said as she smiled. "Sure, what do you want or need for a room?" May smiled as she started to put the bread in the top oven to bake. "Just something that could help out with P.E. I'm not that physically fit." Dawn laughed slightly. "Sure I see no reason why there can be something to help with that. So do you know who are going to our other room mates? I mean rooms 31D and 33D have not arrived yet." May asked as they waited for the food to finish cooking, in such time May and Dawn started to bring out plates, cups and silverware.

"You mean you don't know? I was rather hoping you would know because you mother had designed this place…" Dawn said. "Heh, yeah, you would think…but no I don't know who…Well they have to arrive before the roll call of this floor or they lose their room…"

_**And that part 2 of chapter 1**_


	3. Misty's entrance

_BY THE POWER OF SUNGODDESS YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A NEW CHAPTER! But seriously, I hope you like it. It's the first thing I've published in a while._

_Disclaimer: I do not own taxis, pokemon, lava lamps, or anything else mentioned in this chapter. I just own the chapter I wrote. The actual plotline doesn't even belong to me, it belongs to Umbreon and her beautiful brain._

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><p>The night was just arriving when a taxi pulled up to the school dorms. A girl got out of the car dressed in a yellow hoodie and blue jeans, the hood pulled over her head. After getting her suitcases and backpack out of the trunk, she thanked the driver and payed him. She then headed into the building, straight for the private elevator to the princess suite. She pulled a blank card out of her front pocket before swiping it, then entered. Once inside, the girl pulled down her hood revealing fiery orange hair in a short side pony. Her sea green eyes locked onto the keypad, then quickly shifted to the card in her hand. Finding the code, she typed it into the keypad, causing the elevator to ascend. It quickly reached the destination, and the redhead stepped out into the princess suite. Quickly noticing her ID card, she took it and stuck it in her pocket with the other one. Walking into the suite, she startled the blunette and brunette who were sitting on the couch, chatting. All three of the girls jumped before awkwardly staring at each other in silence. The new girl decided to break the silence.<p>

"Hi, I'm Misty Waterflower. My dorm is room 33D," she said, smiling. The other two girls got up and walked over to Misty.

"Nice to meet you, Misty! I'm Dawn Berlitz from room 34D," the blunette replied, shaking her hand with a huge grin.

"And I'm May Maple, room 32D." The brunette also smiled and shook Misty's hand. "Would you like some help with your bags?"

"Oh! Thanks, but I'm fine," the redhead politely declined. "They aren't that heavy."

"Alrighty then! We'll be here if you need anything," Dawn told her, with May nodding. Misty then headed towards her room, pulling out her ID to unlock the door.

The room took Misty's breath away. The walls were painted a deep sky blue, with turquoise accents, making it look like the room was underwater. In a corner was a double bed with a dark pine wood frame with an goldfish-printed azure comforter. Her sheets and pillowcases were an amber, and underneath the bed was enough space to store her suitcases, among other things. A cyan night table stood right next to the bed's head with a blue lava lamp on top, which Misty had sent ahead so it wouldn't get broken on the flight over from Kanto. The window in her room overlooked the ocean, and right below it was a wooden desk and chair, painted a medium blue. The desk's drawers had starfish-shaped, gold-plated handles while the chair had a cushion of varying yellow, going from a very pale yellow, nearly cream, in one corner to a dark goldenrod in the opposite corner. Apart from the closet, the only other thing in the room was a pinewood chest with Misty's name elegantly painted on it in yellow with a combination padlock.

"It's perfect," she whispered, still in the doorway. She quickly realized this and entered, closing the door behind her. She set her backpack on the bed before laying the two suitcases down. She unpacked the first one, which was all clothes, into the closet. Then she opened her chest, set the lock, and put the contents of her second suitcase into it, locking it afterwards. Out of her backpack, Misty takes an alarm clock, which goes on the night table, and personal pictures of her family and pets which are placed all over the room. The redhead looks over her room one more time before leaving to join May and Dawn.

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><p><em>Did you like it? I'm also writing the next one now, so expect it reasonably soon.<em>

Ash: When do we get to come in!?

_Me:*Hits him with Misty's mallet* You just ruined your surprise entrance Ash! I hope you're happy!_

Drew: They probably assumed we were coming in later anyways.

Paul: Hn.

_Me: How did you all get into my room!?_

Misty: It wasn't the best idea to leave your door unlocked.

May: Do you have any noodles?

Dawn: May! That's rude!

_Me: *muttering* Yeah while it's rude to enter someone's room unannounced._

Natsu: Did someone say something about entering a room?

Happy: Aye sir!

_Me: You aren't even in this story! Oh well. Please review, and excuse me while I get all these characters out of my room. Wolf- I mean, Espeon out! Peace!_


	4. Enter Leaf

_Well, here's another chapter for all you people who actually decided to read this. I know these first chapters are kinda boring, but we gotta get the boring exposition outta the way before we can have the exciting plot part._

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><p>A brown-eyed brunette was walking up to the school dorm building in the bright early morning sunshine, completely oblivious to the world around her, including the small crowd of boys following her. She was wearing a white sunhat, crimson skirt, and mint green t-shirt, along with a pair of very pale green, almost white, leaf-shaped earbuds connected to a green iPod. She was almost dancing down the sidewalk, pulling her suitcase with her yellow messenger bag over her shoulder. She entered, heading for the elevator like three others before her. Noticing the need for a keycard, she quickly got the blank card from her messenger bag and swiped it, then returned it to her bag. Entering the elevator, she looked at the keypad, slightly confused. She reached back into her bag, pulled out a sucker, and pondered over the keypad for less than a second before pulling her card back out. A code had magically appeared on it, and she punched it in to the rhythm of her song. As the elevator headed up to the suite, she unwrapped the sucker and put it in her mouth. She was surprised when the doors opened, as she didn't hear the chime of the elevator's arrival over her music. Quickly stepping out, she grabbed her ID card after spotting it, then looked around the small room she was in. It was a sort of mudroom, and it had five small boxes for mail. There was also a coat closet, big enough to hide two people, and a rack for shoes built into the wall. There were three pairs currently on the rack, implying that three of her roommates had arrived before her. There were a pink pair of stilettos, a purple pair of pumps, and a pair of red ballet flats. Curious, she walked through the open mudroom door, closing it behind her. As it was 7:00 AM on a Saturday, nobody was around for Leaf to see. She shrugged and headed for her room, 31D.<p>

Once she unlocked it, she walked in before taking a look at it while unpacking. The room was painted skillfully so that the sepia brown walls looked like a forest of trees and the forest green along the tops of the walls and on the ceiling looked like a canopy of leaves. Her double bed had a dark cedar frame and a slate gray comforter with a dark olive leaf print on top, making it look like fallen leaves on stone. Her pillows and sheets were a fawn brown, and she had a birch wood nightstand by her bed, where she had a lamp with a camouflage printed lampshade. She set her green, leaf-shaped alarm clock on it, along with a green dock for her iPod. Her window overlooked a small forest in a nearby park, and had silver curtains. The desk was made of sycamore wood, and its handles were silver-plated leaves. The chair was also made of sycamore, and its cushion was varying shades of brown, making it look like sun-dappled earth. The girl set her notebook, journal, and pens on the desk before putting her clothes in the closet, along with her suitcase. She then headed over to the chest, which was made of elm wood and had her name gracefully painted on in chartreuse. After taking the combination lock off, she set the combo, put a large bag into the chest, and locked it up. She stood in the middle of her room, spun around once, then nodded.

Just then, her stomach growled, so she headed to the kitchen. She poured herself a bowl of Fruit Loops, and sat at the counter, still listening to music after all this time. After finishing, she rinsed her dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. She closed the dishwasher and turned around, finding herself face-to-face with a redheaded girl wearing running shorts and a loose t-shirt. They stared at each other for a while before the brunette paused her music and took out her earbuds.

"Who are you?" Misty asked bluntly, tired from the having woken up at 6:00 AM to go on an early morning jog. She had just gotten back, slamming the door quite loudly in the process.

"I'm Leaf Green. My room is number 31D," the brunette said, putting her iPod and headphones in her pocket. "I just arrived this morning."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Misty from room 33D." Misty grinned and shook Leaf's hand. "If our other two roommates are still sleeping, then they must be really heavy sleepers, since I shut the mudroom's door really loud. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

"I guess my music might've been a little too loud." Leaf rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. Suddenly a sleepy blunette trudged into the room while yawning and rubbing her cobalt-blue eyes, attracting the attention of Misty and Leaf. She walked right past the two girls without noticing them, headed towards the fridge. Reaching in, she pulled out the plastic bottle of apple juice, pouring herself a glass before finally noticing Misty and Leaf, who had been watching her the whole time.

"Good morning," Dawn sighed, obviously half asleep. She hopped onto the counter between Leaf and Misty, still holding the full glass. She quickly does a double-take, seeming slightly more awake now. She then whispers to Misty, "Is it just me, or does May look different now?" causing the other two to giggle.

"I can tell you're not a morning person," Misty said. "Otherwise you'd've noticed that this isn't May."

"Huh?" Dawn looked Leaf up and down again, before intelligently replying to Misty,"I'm pretty sure that's May." This caused another laughing fit at Dawn's expense.

"Actually, my name's Leaf," the brunette informed her after the laughter died down, causing the blunette to blink.

"I could've sworn you were May," Dawn muttered to herself, putting down her juice and adjusting her loose, off-shoulder t-shirt before brushing imaginary crumbs off her pajama pants as an excuse to not look at her roommates.

"Where is this mysterious May? I assume she's our other roommate?" Leaf inquired of them, wanting to meet her other roommate.

"I guess she's still sleeping," Misty stated while Dawn gulped down her glass of juice.

"Must be a really heavy sleeper because one of you slammed the door when you came in," Dawn said crabbily, now mostly awake.

"Sorry about that," Misty apologized. She then glanced down at herself. "I think I'll go take a shower now."

"Next time don't slam the door!" Dawn called after her.

-oOo-

It was now almost noon, and the four girls were all doing something different. Leaf was curled up in one of the two love seats, writing in one of her notebooks while listening (yet again) to her music. Misty was on the floor in front of her, almost done with another set of 100 push-ups. She'd already completed 2 or 3 other sets in her apparent boredom. Dawn was in the kitchen after having run to the grocery store for perishable foods, like common fruits and vegetables, and was now making the girls lunch. May was in her room, (surprisingly) still sleeping. Nobody noticed a brunette woman walk in, smile, and wait to be noticed.

"And… 100!" Misty cried triumphantly.

"Good for you!" Dawn called to her without leaving kitchen. "I think it's your fourth set this morning!"

Misty sighed and sat back on her heels. and reaching for her blue water bottle. She then noticed the woman standing there, then glanced to see if Leaf had noticed her. She obviously hadn't, as she was still writing fervently in her notebook. Misty shook her head.

"LEAF!" she yelled, causing the brown-eyed brunette to look up from her writing towards Misty, confused. Then the woman caught her eye.

"Can we help you?" Leaf asked politely after taking out her earbuds.

"I just came with my crew to finish the suite, and was checking to see if my daughter was awake yet," the woman replied.

"Oh, you mean May? I think she's still asleep," Dawn informed them, having walked in while Mrs. Maple was speaking, carrying a tray with sandwiches and watermelon.

"I should have guessed," she laughed, shaking her head. "I haven't had the pleasure of being introduced to you three yet. I'm May's mother, but you can just call me Caroline."

"I'm Misty Waterflower," the redhead said, shaking Caroline's hand. Leaf and Dawn followed suit, introducing themselves to May's mother as well.

"Now, let's see if I can wake up my daughter," Caroline said, leading the three girls towards May's room.

-oOo-

"Now, I'm going to teach you the secret art of waking up May Maple," Caroline whispered, her electric indigo eyes sparkling humorously. She slightly bent over in a huddle with the three, right outside of May's door.

"Why are we whispering?" Dawn asked innocently, slightly confused.

"To add to the mood," Caroline said, then she quietly counted to three before straightening up and knocking loudly on the door.

"May, honey, breakfast is ready!" she called, causing Leaf, Misty, and Dawn to look at each other, confused. Then they all heard a muffled 'THUMP' from inside of the room, followed by rapid thudding footsteps. Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal May, her loose t-shirt and shorts all wrinkled.

"What's for breakfast?" she demanded excitedly. She then notices her roommates fully dressed behind her mother, causing her face to fall. "I missed breakfast, didn't I?"

"No need to worry, I just finished making lunch!" Dawn told the crestfallen May, causing her to perk up. Dawn then turned to Caroline. "Would you like to join us for lunch?"

"Thank you for offering, but I ate before coming," the woman smiled. "I just came to see if there were any requests for the dormitory. We're finishing up room 30D, an excercise pool, a small library, a drawing room, and two spare rooms in back."

"D'you think you could make one of the spare rooms into a dance studio?" Leaf inquired eagerly. Caroline nodded, and Leaf smiled, genuinely thanking her.

"Is there anything else?" the architect asked, and everyone shook their heads. "Well, I guess I'll be going. My team can't go too long without me. It was wonderful meeting you all!"

"Bye mom!" May called, waving. The other three waved and said goodbye to Caroline as well. Suddenly, May realized something. She turned to the other brunette and asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh! That's right, I'm Leaf Green. I just got here this morning while you were sleeping." Leaf and May shook hands.

"Nice to meet you! I'm starving, so let's go eat lunch!" May exclaimed, leading the way to the food.

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><p><em>So, whaddaya think?<em>

Erza: I think it was severely lacking in romance.

_Me: Erza! What are you doing here in a Pokemon fanfiction!? You're from Fairy Tail!_

Erza: Natsu told me about it. I was hoping to find some romance.

_Me: *sweatdrops* We haven't even introduced any boys yet! How am I supposed to make romance!?_

Gray: I think you should just listen to Erza. Otherwise she might get mad...

_Me: Oh come on! Now you're in here! Now I might start thinking about Fairy Tail Football again..._

Gray: (shirtless) Why were you thinking about that?

Leaf: What's with the shirtless dude?

Gray: Aw crap! How did that happen!

_Me: You know, I think I need to tone down my imagination before I imagine Igneel into here._

Natsu: Igneel!? You know where he is!?

_Me: *headdesks* I'm just gonna end the chapter here. I'm out. Peace!_


	5. Wait, Who?

**Hey, Moon Goddess Umbreon has arrived with this chapter! This chapter is put together by the both Goddesses, Espeon and myself, Umbreon, I hope you enjoy this!**

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><p>*Meanwhile in Camie*<p>

In the region of Camie, a small area that was just around the corner of Almia, was the location of the Semi-Finals of the Yearly Motocross Race. The clouds stormed angrily, and the thunder growled out into the air. The lighting struck an unseen cloud of grey as if an electrical storm was going to happen. People had gathered in the stands under the protective cover from the harshly falling rains and light freckles of frost. In some locations of Camie, the area was always covering itself with ice and harsh rains. People down in the half-frozen, half-muddy ground with slowly raising pools of water that froze after a few minutes were carefully preparing their motor-bikes. Going down the line was a sea of bright colors that stood out against the lake of coverage from the clouds above.

The colors had a lined themselves in bright reds to oranges. Each was from a different area. The light blue and bright red was from Sinnoh, topped 4th in the previous year's finals, and his name was Jack Taylor. Next, dressed in bright orange and dull red, he was from Kanto, topped 3rd in the previous year's finals, and his name was Stan Richard. Next to him was the world-famous mystery rider. All that was known about this rider was that he hailed from Johto, and the only name he would give to any reporter was a, 'No comment.' He would always show up in full-on dark red, with a small amount of hot pink along his helmet. No one knew of his face, and the only other information he would give were the initials D.S. He was the previous year's champion, returning to defend his title and to win another one with his hand-built motor-bike. Falling last in the line of the competition was an unknown rider. This rider was fully dressed in black and dark grey. Never taking off the helmet, the rider was given the name, 'Ghost Rider'. This rider was known in each race to suddenly appear at the last minute to win each lap.

"Alright racers, come on out! Enter the track to begin the final race! Still in 1st is Jack Taylor in blue and red with a score of 45 out of the total 50 score! 2nd place is Stan Richard in orange and red with a score of 42 out of 50! 3rd place is D.S. in dark red with a score last set at 40 out of 50! And finally, our "Ghost Rider' in all black and grey is in 4th and last place with a total of 39 out of 50!"

The race started when the gun went off, and the racers went down the track to do their performance and get a high score. Jack did a jump off the high hill, but the lightning struck, as if to light up his performance, which he landed. But upon landing, his bike's back tire started to spark as the chains connected with the iced-over muddy terrain. He cursed as he had to pull off to wait for his repair team to get to him so he could make it to the finish line. "Uh-oh! Looks like Jack's tire chain broke! It's going to knock him off the first place spot, but the judges give him a solid 34!"

As Stan made his way to the small hills to make his stunts, he made solid landings and was circling towards the high hill. He made it up the hill and did a flip, but missed his bike as he fell. The crowd gasped as he was falling, from which the ground would give him some serious damage. Suddenly a streak of black caught him mid-air of a stunt, plus landing on the solid ground without damage as the rider drove off, leaving him near the side lines. The crowd screamed as he stood up. "Whoa! And that, newcomers, was the Ghost Rider's 'Save Pass'…how he makes it up, saving another opponent, plus landing the stunts! You guys just got a real treat! Let's hear the tally for Stan and the Ghost from the judges!"

The judges not only gave Stan's a 23, but also a removal on medical conditions. And on Ghost's a 46 for the mid-air save. "Whoa, looks like Ghost is going to pull through this one, and he has yet to do his specialty!" The crowd screams as D.S. pulls off his hand stand on the high hill, plus landing the stunt. He continued to pull around to go back on the track to get the extra points for finishing the lap. "Look's like D.S. isn't going to make this easy for Ghost, with the judges giving him a 46 as well… We'll have to see which one will finish the lap first!"

As the two motor bikes raced nearer and nearer to the finish line, the rain suddenly picked up with the wind. The small frozen speckles that had gently fallen before were now harshly moving in the direction of the two riders. D.S was speeding forward but starting to go slower because of the terrain. Ghost was easily keeping up, as D.S's bike was making a whining sound from the water entering the engine. As the finish line was coming up, the crowd was cheering as they were approached.

Suddenly, lightning struck the ground right in front of the finish line. D.S. pulled back to avoid the harsh sparks that came from the shock, but Ghost drove right through the falling dirt and sparks that crackled around him, making the finish line first with D.S in second. The crowd cheered for the winner as the camera crew circled Ghost and D.S for interviews. D.S didn't pay much attention to them as he checked his bike for what was causing the whining sound.

"Here we have the two that are going to the Finals! D.S and the Ghost Rider! D.S, what do you have to say for Second place?" The lady in a very expensive suit asked him. "I'll win the Championship just like last year, now move you're in my light." He said as he turned back to his bike. The lady huffed as she smiled at Ghost and went to him to ask the same question. "Ghost Rider, how does it feel to be going to the Finals for the first time?" No response as the Ghost rider unhooked the helmet. People silenced everyone else's talking once they saw that the famous Ghost Rider was removing his helmet. Long dark brown hair came out of the helmet, as well as a pretty, flawless face. Then 'he' removed the jacket that was only worn for protection and put it on the bike.

SHE stretches with a sigh. Silence was coming from everything, including from the weather. The skies cleared up, allowing some sunlight to pull through. "The ghost rider is a girl!?" Jack yelled furiously. He then kicked his 4th place trophy as it almost went straight towards her head, but instead hit her bike. All was quiet as she looked at the dent mark in the cover paint. She slowly looks up and at Jack; her eyes were dark brown, almost black in the lack of lighting. She walked over to him. He simply made a rude sound to her and tried to go around her, so she stuck out her foot and tripped him. He landed face first in mud. All was now in shock; Jack Taylor was not someone to make a fool of. But she grabbed his dirty blonde hair and pulled him up. "First off, Jack, there are no rules against females entering. Second, you damage my bike again, you'll lose more blood then there is in your body." And with that she dropped him back onto the ground as she took her bike and walked away. The news lady called out to her, "Wait, can we have a name?!"

"Angel…is all you need," she called back as she pulled her bike into her little camp site. "You'll see me at the Finals at Almia…" she said. The rider in all dark red watched her get on her bike to pull out and away from the tracks, going onto the road to head towards the port.

(line-break)

As Angel pulled up to the Port Town in Camie to take her to the major port with a boat to leave for Almia, she took notice of the bike that was pulling up into the docks. It was the dark red rider…D.S. Angel paid no attention to him as she leaned forward onto the handles. Her shirt was pretty much a light navy blue tank top with a black three button jacket. On her neck was a collar with strange chains and weird charms. There was a fiery red flame, a deep blue water droplet, a golden yellow star piece and a small, dull red R. Her jeans had a metal chain that looped around to attach itself to the other side. Her shoes were black with a small sharp heel to them.

After a while of waiting, the weather broke completely. The last of the frozen speckles were being brushed up into the wind to sweep out over the ocean. A slight chill raced down Angel's back as she looked at the water, her dark eyes looking past it. Her eyes were focusing on the darker depths of the oceans' waves. The sun broke through the grey clouds slightly, which lit up the water and the snowy white frozen speckles. She let out a sigh as the light revealed nothing from the deep parts of the ocean. Slowly, her breath returned to normal as the cold air made it shine out of her pale pink lips.

After about 15 more minutes, give or take, the ferry to the major island pulled into port to take travelers to the main city in Camie. Angel pulled her bike over to the docking area as well as D.S. "You folks might want to rest inside the cabins, we don't know how the weather will hold until we get out of the Island's Weather Circle…" the sailor man said as he turned to both D.S. and Angel when he stopped talking right away. "Um, you might want to get yourselves cleaned up as well… We only have one cabin and one bathroom with a shower. I guess you siblings are going to have to share." He smiled, and as he saw the look that appeared on Angel's face, he laughed, not realizing they weren't related.

Angel looked out the corner of her eyes to look at the dark red rider. He was still checking on his bike for the cause of the whining from back at the track. Angel sighed as she walked away, but stopped in the doorway, which was right next to D.S. and his bike. "The inner left nut is rusting by the engine's fuel tank." She said as she shut the door.

D.S. looked at her as the door closed. He looked back at his bike. The only area he could not see because of his helmets' shading. As he removed his dark red helmet, light brown hair was shown and his coal black eyes with hot pink around the irises were revealed. He set down his helmet and looked at the area Angel had spoken of. And there he saw the problem…the nut was rusting pretty badly. Another run through with the harsh weather might end with the tank exploding. He then started to repair it while the boat sailed out into the ocean.

***Back with Angel***

She was washing her hair in the shower before getting out and redressed in her clothes. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel as she sat on the couch-like bed in the cabin. Next to the couch was the mini-fridge. She pulled out a bottle of water and she sipped from it. Her eyes wandered to the window showing the outside. The waves gently crashed against the boat, and the clouds were clearing. But off in the distance, the dark grey clouds were coming closer and closer to them. A storm was heading towards the Camie Island that they had just left. She leaned her head back against the wall behind her head. Sleepiness started to enter mind as she entered a sort of light sleep.

After about a few hours, the sun was fully out as the boat pulled into the port of the main island. Angel slowly got up, noticing a folded piece of paper fall off her lap as she stood. Looking at it for a second before picking it up, she looked around, noticing D.S. wasn't in the room. Inside the folded paper were just two words: 'Thank you.' Angel was utterly confused but remembered that it was just her and D. the boat when it set sail…

She chuckled to herself slightly as she put it in her pocket, while pulling out her mp3 with headphones to listen to Stand in the Rain by Superchick.

As she softly sang, she went to her bike in the hold. She noticed that D.S's bike was already gone, not that she really cared. She pushed her bike out of the ship's hold and onto the deck below. As she moved towards the street where her apartment was, she checked her mailbox…there was a letter. It from Almia's Ranger Academy, and with a quick tear, she opened to see the contents. She was accepted! She smiled slightly as she read the information it gave her. She would have to share the dorm room she applied for, but she simply shrugged at it.

***about 30 or so minutes later***

Angel pulled out her motorcycle and drove out to the port for the last boat to Almia. Once onboard, Angel sat in a chair to watch the waters below go by. Somehow she lost track of time as she heard the Captain call for passengers to prepare for docking at the Almian dock called Eternal Night. Angel went to get her stuff as she pulled her motorcycle out of the boat hold. With a quick look at her watch, it said it was around 4 in the afternoon. Soon, she got off the boat and pulled out into the streets. Since she was working her way towards a private road that leads to the school, she didn't have to worry about running into anybody.

As she pulled past a walker with a small black and white Pomsky, something told her to slow down. Sure enough, the sound something hitting metal and a person going 'oofph'. Angel looked back and saw the walker, a girl with golden blonde hair pulled off to the side with streaks of scarlet that reached all the way to her waist. She held her head as she felt for her dog. It barked 3 times and helped her up. Angel felt like she knew her from somewhere…

Then Angel saw her eyes were a wondrous deep green without pupils, which signaled that she was blind. Then it struck her. Angel had met the girl behind her on a previous mission to Sinnoh… Angel swallowed softly as she walked over with the dog. "Need a lift?" she asked.

The blind girl looked in Angel's general direction curiously, tilting her head to the side.

"I've heard that voice before somewhere," she replied. "Have we met before?"

She was silent for a minute before she sighed softly. "Not exactly. But we have crossed paths..."

Angel started to feel guilty about what she had done when she had met this girl.

"That explains why I recognize your voice. I'm April," the blonde girl replied, without sticking out her hand. "Where are you headed?"

"I'm going to Almia's Ranger Academy...but I can drop you off where you need to go...It's not safe for any girl to walk around by herself, even if you have your seeing eye dog...Oh, my name's Angelica, but just call me Angel."

"Really? That happens to be where I'm headed as well!" April exclaimed as her dog jumped into her arms, with April barely catching him.

"Oh? Well here, hop onto the back and hang on. Roll Call is later this evening." Angel gently touched April's hand to help her onto her bike. "I'm on a motorcycle...wait put this on." Angel took off her biker jacket and put it on Aprils' shoulders. "I don't have my extra jackets or helmets with me so keep these on..." Angel said as she started up her bike.

April held on tightly, her dog secured between the two of them. After a minute or so, they arrived at the dorm building.

"Do you know what dorm room you're in?" Angel said she pulled into a motor bike type parking space. She killed the motor as she got off to get her carry on bag. The girl looked thoughtful.

"I think Riley said I was in room 30D, and something about having a roommate," she responded, still sitting on the bike.

"Wait...Room 30D...of the Princess Suite...?" Angel said as she helped April get off the bike. April hesitated slightly before answering.

"Yeah, I think so," April told her. "Why?"

"We're roommates..." Angel said simply as she moved towards the building. "We made it before the deadline...so that's good..." Angel got quiet for a minute. "April...where do you remember me from...?" Angel asked, her tone indicated that she was not exactly happy about something.

"Um, I can't remember exactly what because I'm pretty sure it was several years ago," April said, her face scrunched up in concentration and confusion as she noted Angel's tone of voice. "But I think it might've had something to do with those ruins Riley found on Iron Island."

"Iron Island...you know what, it's fine...come on let get inside..." Angel said slightly rushed to forget the topic. "The cold air isn't good for me..." she said as she held the door open for April to enter. She could feel the natural climate of the dorm rush out as the door opened. Then April realized that she still had on Angel's jacket.

"Um, here's your jacket back." April held the jacket out in the open air for Angel to take. After she took it, the two girls walked towards the Princess Suite's elevator. April was muttering something under her breath as they walked in time with her own steps.

"Thanks." Angel said softly as if she didn't fully feel comfortable in saying it out loud. Angel and April finally got to the elevator, as Angel swiped the card to open the doors, they entered and the doors closed. As Angel typed in the pass code she was softly sings under her breathe. April caught only one line: "...please...please, forgive me...but I won't be home again...even though I'm the sacrifice." her voice was ringing in hidden sadness that rang throughout her words that she softly spoke.

April tilted her head, but said nothing. When the elevator chimed, the two of them got out.

"April...here...it's your ID. It has braille on it for you. It would seem aren't the only ones in the Princess Suite..." Angel said as she heard laughter of other female voices, but something in her voice seemed...afraid.

April fumbled over towards the door, her little dog attempting to lead her. Once she reached it, she opened it, and her dog ran out the door, barking. April cursed the same way a four-year-old would and ran after the dog, stumbling as she did. Angel took a breath as she held April's hand as they moved over into the hall that was in between the kitchen and bedrooms.

"You want to go introduce yourself or just head to the dorm room?" Angel asked.

"We're gonna have to meet them sooner or later, so we may as well do that now." Suddenly, surprised sounds came from the room beyond the kitchen since the little dog had run in ahead of them. April flinched slightly at the barking. "That, and they already know we're here, thanks to Bravenwulf."

"Yeah..." Angel helped April to the living room of which the sounds had come from.

The two girls walked through the door into the next room, where four girls sat. A long haired brunette sat curled up in her chair, writing in her notebook and listening to music, while on the couch a shorter haired brunette sat facing a blunette, also on the couch. A redhead was on the floor, holding a waterbottle, and the small dog was standing next to her, barking.

"Bravenwulf, stop it!" April called, and her dog immediately stopped and ran to her. "I'm sorry. He's slightly overprotective of me..."

"No need to worry! He just startled us, nothing more. I'm Dawn by the way," the blunette said, getting up from the couch and coming closer to Angel and April. She stuck out her hand for the two girls to take. Angel just looked away, slightly uncomfortable, while April stared in Dawn's general direction.

"...Are you sticking out your hand?" April inquired, slightly embarrassed as she couldn't see it. Dawn nodded, slightly confused as the other three girls came over to them. When April still didn't respond, the long haired brunette took a closer look at her. Sudden realization dawned on her face as she noticed the blonde girl's eyes.

"You're blind, aren't you?" she asked curiously. April nodded, and Dawn retracted her hand now that she knew. "Well, my name's Leaf."

"I'm May!" the other brunette exclaimed. "What's it like, being blind?"

"May, that's rude! You don't just ask questions like that!" the redhead whisper-shouted, lightly slapping May.

"Why not Misty?" she asked, confused.

"It's okay. I'm used to questions like that," April responded. "I don't know how to describe being blind, since I've never known what it's like to see. No matter how hard people try to describe it to me, it's still a foreign concept."

"I'm Angel, and this is April," the other girl introduced them after clearing her throat. "We're sharing room 30D. It's a pleasure to meet you… I'm going to take April to our dorm room… April did you have your stuff sent out before coming as well?" Angel asked as the two started down the hall towards their room. April nodded, muttering under her breath again.

"34D...33D...32D...31D...30D, here we are..." Angel said as she took out her card and swiped it. The two girls then heard a sound beeping three times.

Inside the room was two beds, each on the opposite sides of the pink walls with a chest of their names on it in front of their beds, though April's was in Braille, showing that she had the far left bed. The bed frames were made of old oak. The bedspreads were a calming medium blue. The pillows were a nice leafy green with a sort of mint blue to them. One side of the room had a closet while the other side had a dresser. Both had Braille on them. The flooring was different from the rest of the dorm, which had some carpet here and there. This room had full on wooden floors, made of a nice mahogany. The curtains on the window between the beds was a nice, natural duke blue, and closer inspection revealed the walls to actually be a soft white.

Angel noticed that in the middle of the room were her bags as well as what she thinks are Aprils'.

"Need any help getting unpacked?" she asked, and April nodded.

* * *

><p><em>Espeon<em>_: Well, that was a fun chapter to write, huh Umbreon?_

_**Umbreon: yes...yes it was. And it will only get funner as we go.**_

_Espeon: In my opinion, the best part was the roleplaying for the end of the chapter._

_**Umbreon: That was rather fun, its was also fun to see all the mistakes I had made. But on the side note, we got it done before we went to sleep.**_

_Espeon: And that's what counts!_

Ash: I'm getting bored! When do we come in!?

Gary: If you'd been paying attention, Ashy-boy, you'd've heard that we're coming in the next few chapters.

_Espeon: It'll be fun to tor- *slaps hand over mouth to stop sentence.*_

_**Umbreon: be patient dear little Ash...Espeon, shall we give them what they want? :3 **_

_Espeon: Perhaps..._

Happy: SOMEONE SAID THERE WAS A HOLY CARP! WHERE IS IT!

_Espeon: Calm down Happy! There is no holy carp, that was a typo!_

Dawn: Happy isn't very happy anymore...

Ash and May: Then wouldn't he be sad?

Misty: *Hits Ash with her mallet* DON'T BE AN IDIOT!

**Umbreon: Well then, now that Misty has knock Ash over the head...I'd say my day is complete.**

****_Espeon: True dat. Well, I guess we'd better sign off before someone else com-_****

Natsu: There you are Happy! What's wrong buddy?

Happy: *sniffling* I couldn't find any Holy Carp. All I found was strawberry cake...

Erza: *snatches cake from Happy* This is very good cake.

_Espeon: Now you see what I have to deal with, Umbreon?_

_**Umbreon: ...is that...CAKE? WE HAVE CAKE?! *runs to kitchen for cake***_

_Espeon: *Face palm* Thanks a lot, Happy._

Happy: You're welcome. Can I have some fish?

Gray: (fully clothed) That was sarcasm, Happy.

Natsu: What's sarcasm Ice Princess?

Gray: (shirtless) You wanna go, Flame Brain!?

Erza: Enough! You will not fight here! And Gray, you might want to put on a shirt.

Gray: Aw crap! Not again!

_Espeon: Y'know Gray, you're the one that takes off your shirt. It's not like Juvia does it, however much she might want to. *Points finger towards door* I know you're out there, Juvia. If you come in, so help me..._

Ash, May, and Natsu: So help you what?

_Espeon: Never mind. I'm signing off now. Espeon out! Peace!_

*Everyone leaves*

**Umbreon: *walks back in with cake* where did everyone go? **


	6. Conspiracy Brewing

_Alright! We're updating this like crazy! This one's all my chapter, and you better get ready for a consp- I mean cake! Yeah, you better get ready for a cake... Y'know what? Just keep reading, and try to forget everything before this. I own only the plot, with some help there from Umbreon. I don't own the characters or the fact that Ash's mom always tells him to change his underwear._

* * *

><p><strong>*One month earlier*<strong>

"Agent 04K, the Boss would like to see you in his office." A woman with short, dark purple hair and a pair of glasses approached a young man who was sitting at a desk, playing (and losing) a video game. He glanced up at her with his dark green, nearly black eyes, then paused the game.

"Fine," he sighed, running his hand through his spiky auburn locks. "I guess I'd better see what he wants this time."

As the woman led him through the hallways of the HQ, the young man thought back to how all this started. To think, it was all because he'd wanted to see Cerulean Cape and wasn't in the mood to fight, so he accepted the Rocket Grunt's demands on Nugget Bridge, joining Team Rocket. Luckily, he was one of the better Rockets, so he only got the hard missions, leaving him plenty of free time to pick on his rival and convince his Gramps he actually had a decent job, one that didn't involve criminal organizations.

"The Boss is waiting for you inside," the woman said, pushing up her glasses and snapping the Auburn-haired teen out of his thoughts. He gave her a dazzling smile and thanked her before entering the dark office. Inside, there was a man sitting in a swivel chair behind a large desk, wearing an orange suit and petting an albino panther.

"Nice of you to join me, Agent 04K," the man said with a smirk. "Take a seat."

The teenager sat down quickly without even glancing at the panther. He'd been in this office hundreds of times before, and was by now used to the big cat.

"I suppose you're wondering what I want you to do for me?" the man asked, eliciting a nod from the young man, whose eyes never strayed from his boss. "There is a new school opening this year, and we need you to… Persuade them to shut it down."

"How can I do that?" the agent inquired. "Also, why is it so important to shut down this school?"

"There are valuable minerals in the property the school is built upon. I would like to obtain them for myself and the organization. As for how, we have received intel that an important figure's daughter happens to be going there. You will take her hostage, and force the school to be closed." With this, the boss reached into his desk, pulling out a file and handing it across the desk. "This file contains the details of your mission. I expect you to succeed, Agent 04K."

The young man, recognizing a dismissal, stood with the file and left with a respectful nod. On his way back to his desk, he opened the file. After reading the first page, which was information about the school, Almia's Ranger Academy, he finally arrived at his desk. Sitting down, he flipped to the second page, which was about the girl he was supposed to kidnap. He stared at it in shock.

"No. Not her. Anyone but her…" he whispered to himself, horrified.

(line-break)

A teenage boy with purple hair was walking around the alleyways of Veilstone City, hands in the pockets of his black pants, muscular arms showing as he was wearing a white muscle shirt with a stylized yellow G in the middle. Suddenly, he was surrounded by people with light blue bowl cuts who immediately attacked him. The boy fought back, easily beating them in under 5 minutes without breaking a sweat. He then turned to the red-haired woman behind him.

"Well done," she said, walking up to him. "That's faster than last time."

"Hn," the boy grunted, not caring at all.

"Cyrus wants to see you as soon as you get back," the woman informed him, before heading past him down the alleyway. "He says he has a challenge for you."

The teen then turned and followed her nonchalantly.

-oOo-

A man with spiky blue hair, dressed in a black and white outfit stood looking out a window, hands behind his back. When he noticed the purple-haired teenager's reflection, he spoke without turning around.

"I know you've been itching for a challenge, and I have a job for you." The man then turned, his blue eyes meeting the boy's onyx ones. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the man spoke again, realizing the boy wouldn't. "I need you to recruit a new member. He is a war hero, and I need your help… Persuading him to join."

"How am I supposed to do that?" the teenager inquired in a monotonous voice.

"This particular man is well off, and has a daughter around your age. She is going to be attending a school, known as Almia's Ranger Academy. You are to… Encourage her to come with you, to help persuade her father," the man informed him.

"So basically, you want me to kidnap some spoiled teenager so we can blackmail her father into joining," the teen summarized. "I don't see how that's difficult."

"As this is the academy's first year of teaching, along with being an exclusive private school, they have exceptional security. I need you to be our inside operative because you are the only member of the organization who can attend without arousing suspicion." The man reached into his pocket, pulling out an envelope and a flashdrive. "I have already enrolled you there, and all the information you need is on the flashdrive. Inside the envelope is a forged letter, claiming you obtained a scholarship to the school."

The man handed the flashdrive and envelope over, then turned to face the window again. The teenage boy turned to leave, frustrated with the lack of fighting in his newest assignment. He was almost out the door when the man called to him, "I trust you will be able to complete this mission flawlessly."

The teenager only paused long enough to hear this, then walked out of the office, thinking about how to break the news of his 'scholarship' to his brother.

(line-break)

"I don't see why I have to do this!" a teenager yelled, his emerald green eyes flashing in anger.

"It's only temporary, just until they manage to-" The man who was trying to speak was cut off by the teen.

"I don't care that it's only temporary, I don't know why I have to be the one to pay off _your_ debt to these people!" The two males had a staring contest, neither one backing down. Two pairs of emerald eyes, locked together.

"You will do this because I am your father, and as long as you live in my house, you obey my rules," the older man said, his eyes narrowed and his voice deathly quiet, especially after his son's exclamations. "Also, I already enrolled you at the academy. Your mother thought it would be a good educational experience."

"Sure, working with a criminal organization is _excellent_ educational experience. She doesn't know about that part, does she?" the teenage boy asked, flicking his green bangs out of his eyes.

"Your mother does not need to know about this. As far as she knows, school starts imminently, and you are leaving tonight." This was said with a tone of finality, and the boy couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "Now go pack. You have less than thirty minutes before they come to collect you."

The young man left, fully intending to pack. However, he was not planning to leave with those people. He was going to run away.

-oOo-

Twenty-five minutes later, the young man was climbing down the side of his mansion in the dark city of LaRousse, with only the clothes he was wearing and whatever was in his navy backpack. As soon as he reached the ground, he started running for the side gate to escape before his father realized he was gone. Unfortunately for him, he ran into a wall of unmovable flesh right outside the gates.

"Running away now, are we? That's just the type of person we need for this job," the wall chuckled, revealing itself to be a brunet man in a red hood with gray horns. The man grabbed the boy's arm and dragged him towards a car with tinted windows. He opened the door, and the boy was thrown inside before the door slammed shut, leaving him in total darkness. He heard another door open and close, followed by the start of an engine and the car's movement.

-oOo-

The boy woke up to bright light flooding the area he was in. He was roughly grabbed and pulled out of the car. He didn't struggle because his mind was still hazy from sleep, although he had no recollection of falling asleep. The hooded man was half dragging, half leading the green-haired teenager up the path to the doors of a large building. Once inside, they continued on to an elevator, which they took up to the third floor. Then the two entered an office behind grand doors made of solid redwood. Inside, a red-haired man sat behind a desk, dressed in gray pants and a long red and gray overcoat.

"I brought the boy to fulfill his father's debt, Boss," the hood-wearing man said.

"I can see that, Tabitha," the boss replied. By now, the teen was awake and struggling to escape Tabitha's grip. "He's rather feisty, isn't he?"

"I caught him trying to run. But I can probably break him before the month's out," the brunet assured his boss.

"Very well. I give you my permission to do whatever you need to prepare him. Just try to ensure he's healthy when it's time for him to pay the debt," the redhead sighed, dismissing them with a wave of his hand. Tabitha dragged the juvenile out of the office with a malicious grin on his face.

(line-break)

"Your job is to infiltrate Almia's Ranger Academy and 'recruit' this girl. Do you think you can handle that?" a red-haired woman in a blue pirate bandana asked the teenager in front of her. He nodded, a grim look of determination on his face. "Good. You have about a month to prepare. Dismissed."

The boy ran off to prepare for his mission, part of which would be obtaining clothes that wouldn't peg him as a member of Team Aqua.

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><p><em>Espeon: Well, that was a chapter well written. Feel free to guess who each boy is! There are different boys after everytime it says <em>(line-break). _I might've used actual line-breaks, but the word is much funner. Oh! And I don't own that word! I learned it from Shelbyrox21._

Ash: Hey! How come I didn't get a ca-

Gary: *covers Ash's mouth* You didn't get a cake because you aren't one of the readers.

Drew: How does being a reader get you a cake?

_Espeon: That's easy! If you guess who each character is correctly, I give you virtual cake! ^^_

Erza: I DEMAND CAKE NOW! Let's see... I think that Ga-

_Espeon:_ _*quickly cuts Erza off* If you want the cake you gotta post it in a review, Erza!_

Erza: Alright. Lucy!

Lucy: *squeaks fearfully* Yes Erza?

Erza: I need you to teach me how to review a story.

Lucy: I don't know how to...

Dawn: I do! I figured it out since I like to read stories about- *quickly shuts up while blushing*

Erza: Very well, Dawn. Teach me how to write a review...

_Espeon: Wow. They pretty much just stole my A/N... Oh well. Please review, and if you want virtual cake, you gotta correctly guess who's who in each chapter! You get 25% of a cake for each correct guess! Well, I'd better get going. Espeon out! Peace!_


	7. Wild boys appear!

_Wow. Only two people reviewed the last chapter. I can't believe you people. Well, Ready to Fly and Erza Scarlet both got 75% of cake for guessing three out of four people right. Ash and Rudy aren't our Team Aqua representatives. If you wanna get pissed at me over that, feel free. Just don't expect me to be all nice back. Oh, I'm also giving Ready to Fly an ice cream cone because he/she (I dunno what gender you are) has reviewed the most chapters. Maybe Umbreon and I will do something else if you guys review. Now, please enjoy this next chapter. If you don't, then that's your problem. Oh, and this was role played at the end, so there may be some screw-ups in our RP part. Feel free to point out any you see. Now I'm gonna shut up and let you read._

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><p>"Wake up Ashy-boy! We're gonna miss the plane at this rate!" a teenager with spiky auburn hair shouted, exasperated with his raven-haired companion who was dead to the world. Suddenly he got an idea, causing him to smirk. "If you don't wake up, I'm gonna eat all the bacon for you Ash!"<p>

This got the sleeping boy's attention, and he fell out of bed in his haste to get to the imaginary bacon. This elicited a laughing fit from the other teenager.

"There is no bacon, is there Gary?" Ash asked, seeming slightly depressed. Gary shook his head, still laughing at his rival's misfortune.

"Seriously though, we'd better get going if we wanna catch our flight to Almia, Ashy-boy." Gary had convinced his boss to let Ash tag along to the academy, claiming that it would help him get closer to his target as they had all been childhood friends. It was for this reason the Rocket boss had sent a fake letter of scholarship acceptance to Almia's Ranger Academy to his mother. They were currently in a Viridian City hotel and had to catch this flight to Almia if they stood a chance of getting there in time for the roll call and keeping their dorm room.

"Aw, crap! I forgot about that!" Ash quickly stood up and started getting dressed. Then they quickly left without eating any breakfast. They barely made it onto the plane, and it took off almost as soon as they were seated. The two sat in silence for about an hour. Before-

"Gary?"

"What Ash?"

"I'm hungry"

"This is gonna be a long flight…"

**(line-break)**

"I see you're ready to go already," a man with long purple hair asked his younger brother with shorter, shaggier purple hair.

"Hn," the young man grunted, picking up his bags.

"You'll be popular with the ladies, Paul. Most of the ones your age at a preppy school like this like men of few words," the older brother teased while chuckling.

"Shut up Reggie," Paul muttered, walking out the front door, leaving Reggie behind and silently cursing him. He walked quickly towards the airport. suddenly, the same red-haired woman from last month appeared in front of him, causing him to stop. "What do you want Mars?"

"Is it a crime to wish my comrade luck on his mission?" Mars asked innocently, batting her eyelashes.

"Hn." Paul continued walking, and Mars followed him, keeping pace. This caused the teen to raise an eyebrow. "I thought you were after Cyrus, not me."

"Please, you're too young for me," Mars snorted. "I just thought I should see you off since you're the closest thing I have to a friend."

"Hn. You should go before we get there, unless you want to blow my cover," Paul said, growing slightly irritated by Mars.

"Fine," the woman sighed, leaving. "Take care."

Paul walked away without a word, continuing on to the airport. He arrived at the terminal fifteen minutes before the flight started boarding. Once on the plane, he fell asleep and stayed that way for most of the flight, partially so he wouldn't have to think about the brat he was going to have to abduct.

**(line-break)**

"Is your mission clear?" A hooded man was interrogating the green-haired teen leaning against the wall in front of him.

"Of course it is, Tabitha. You've only told me it about a million times this past month," he responded, rolling his emerald green eyes.

"If it's so clear to you Hayden, then what are you supposed to do?" Tabitha demanded, irritated at the teen's devil-may-care attitude.

"Simple. I infiltrate the stupid academy and convince the child genius to come with me back here by any means necessary," sighed the boy monotonously, purposely infuriating his superior. His name was Drew Hayden, but he had refused to tell Team Magma his first name, and they didn't care enough to get it from his father.

"And what happens if you screw up?" Tabitha asked with a smirk. This caused a well-hidden flinch from Drew, who was determined to keep up his cool kid act.

"You'll teach me and my family a lesson," he said in a bored tone, masking the fact that he was afraid of what could happen if he did mess up. "Can I go now?"

"Fine. Just remember to-" Drew cut his superior off with a smirk.

"Keep my eyes open and be afraid. Unfortunately for you, I'm not afraid of anything." Drew was lying through his teeth, although Tabitha didn't seem to notice it. Sauntering out with a backpack slung over his shoulder, it looked like nothing could faze Drew Hayden. As soon as he was in the back of the car that would take him to the airport, Drew let the facade slip. His fear and concern for his family showed on his face and he spent the entire ride in silence, his face buried in his hands.

-oOo-

When Drew arrived at the airport, he quickly put his arrogant facade back on and walked straight to the ticket agent behind the counter to pick up his pre-purchased ticket. He then headed to the boarding area. As he only had his backpack, he arrived there quickly. He then pulled out his phone to check his messages. There was one text message from his twelve-year-old sister, Abby. He decided to call her, as she was the one he missed and worried about most. After dialing her number, he had to wait all of one and a half seconds before she picked up.

"Drew!" his sister shouted excitedly. He winced at her loud voice directly in his ear.

"There's no need to shout into the phone, Abby," Drew scolded her playfully.

"I'm just happy you called me. It's been an entire _month_, Drew, and you didn't even text me back." The teen could practically hear his sister's pout, and he almost chuckled when he imagined her face.

"It's been a busy first month of school, Abby. I promise I'll call you more often," he sighed, a smile dancing on his lips.

"You better," Abby said indignantly. She almost instantly cheered up. "Did you get all my messages though?"

"Of course. I just didn't have the time to respond. I promise I'll do better with that too," Drew promised before his sister could respond. Then he heard the announcement that his flight would start boarding imminently. "I've got to go now, Abby. I promise I'll call you tomorrow though."

"Alright. Bye Drew," Abby replied.

"Bye Abby." Drew then stood up, turning off his phone before putting it in the pocket of his light blue jeans and picking up his backpack. He pulled out his ticket and went to board his flight.

**(line-break)**

"We will be landing shortly in Vientown, Almia. The time there is 6:30 PM, and the temperature is 84° F. We thank you for flying with Kanto Airlines," the flight attendant said over the intercom. Ash had just finished something with a sleeping Gary and was stashing a black marker back in his bag, right next to a blank key card. He then decided to wake Gary up because the sooner Gary was awake, the sooner they could get off the plane, and the sooner Ash could get something to eat that wasn't peanuts.

"Gary… Gary!" Ash was poking the sleeping boy next to him. "GARY!"

"Huh? Wha?" Gary mumbled drowsily. "What is it Ash?"

"The flight's gonna land soon! Then we can get some food at the airport, right?" the raven haired teen asked excitedly, causing his companion to lean his head back and sigh.

"I'll think about it," Gary promised, and Ash fist pumped the air.

-oOo-

After the two finally got off the plane, it was almost 7:00, giving them less than an hour to get to the academy. Ash was upset about this, and chose this time to make fun of Gary.

"Hey Gary?" Ash said with a goofy grin, catching his rival's attention.

"What?" Gary sighed, exasperated after spending too long in the other boy's company.

"You have something on your face," Ash replied, starting to laugh. Gary pulled out his phone to check his reflection. Upon seeing the drawings on his face, Gary's expression turned from confusion to anger. Noticing, Ash took off running with Gary chasing him.

"Get back here Ash Ketchum!" cried the auburn haired teen, a murderous look on his face.

"Not unless you get me food!" was the response, followed by a resounding, "Oomph!"

"I've got a knuckle sandwich right here for you A-" Gary stopped at seeing Ash sitting on the ground, looking up at a muscular boy with purple hair, who was looking back. After Gary arrived, the purple haired boy's onyx eyes met Gary's dark green ones, and the expression in them asked, 'This idiot with you?' Gary gulped, afraid of the boy, before getting Ash up off the ground. "We'd better go get our suitcases from the baggage claim, eh Ashy-boy?"

"Yeah, sure Gary," Ash replied, still looking at the new boy, who was headed off in the direction they needed to go and followed, trying and failing to start a conversation with him.

-oOo-

Paul was rudely awakened by the flight attendant's announcement that the flight would be landing shortly. Then, while minding his own business, some idiot ran into him and fell. Now said idiot was trying to engage him in a conversation.

"My name's Ash Ketchum! What's yours?" the idiot asked. Paul chose not to answer and walked faster to try and escape Ash and his friend. Unfortunately for him, fate decided to be a jerk and the two kept pace with him.

"C'mon, will it kill you to tell him your name?" Idiot's companion inquired. "He's not gonna leave you alone unless you answer. Trust me."

"Hn," was all Paul said, but in his head he was thinking about all the ways he could kill these two while still making it look like an accident. He hadn't even been in their company for five minutes, and he wanted to murder them.

"What's your name?" Ash persisted, and his spiky-haired companion gave Paul a look that screamed, 'I told you so,' and elicited a sigh from Paul.

"My name is Paul. Now go away," he muttered, once again trying to leave them behind. The two kept following him. "I said go away, so stop following me."

"Can't. It's not our fault we're all headed to baggage claim, eh Ashy-boy?" Paul sweared he was going to kill that one first.

"Yep! That's right, Gary!" Ash chirped. And that idiot was next.

After several more failed attempts at carrying, or even starting a conversation, they finally reached the baggage claim. Paul silently thanked the lord and quickly tried once more to escape, and guess who followed him? That's right: Idiot number one, AKA Ash Ketchum. Suddenly, Paul heard the sound of a collision behind him, and glanced over his shoulder, slightly interested. It turned out that the other idiot, who Paul by now knew was Gary Oak, was one of the two people who had run into each other and was now down on the ground. The other person was a newcomer with green hair and green eyes.

-oOo-

"Ow…" Drew glared at the person with whom he had collided while rubbing his head. The offender, a boy his age with spiky auburn hair and dark green eyes, was doing the same. Suddenly another boy ran over to help the offending teen off the ground.

"Are you alright Gary? I know that can hurt, since I did the same thing to Paul. Except I sorta bounced off him instead of colliding with him." The new raven-haired boy was babbling.

"Ash?" Gary said.

"Yeah?" Ash asked

"Shut up," was the rude response as Gary brushed himself off. Drew stood up.

"Look where you're going next time," Drew huffed as he turned and walk away.

"There won't be a next time greenie," Gary called after him with a smirk. Drew stopped and turned.

"What did you call me, hair gel?" Drew was slowly advancing towards the other teen. Ash, sensing tension between the two, disappeared back towards the baggage claim.

"I called you greenie. Got a problem with that?"

"Yeah, I kinda do hair gel."

"Well, what are you gonna do about it?"

"This." Drew pulled back his fist to punch Gary when someone grabbed his arm. He glanced towards them and saw a purple haired boy who just glared at Drew with his onyx eyes. Drew paled slightly because it was clear he would be no match for the newcomer. In the background, he spotted Ash sighing in relief.

"Thanks Paul!" Ash exclaimed. He was pulling two suitcases, one blue, one purple.

"Hn," Paul grunted, releasing Drew and turning towards the door while carrying a black duffel bag. Ash handed Gary the purple suitcase and followed Paul. Gary and Drew glared at each other before heading in the same direction.

"If you hate me so much, why are you following me?" Gary questioned Drew.

"We just happen to be headed in the same direction," Drew muttered. The rest of the time was spent in a tense silence between them.

-oOo-

Outside, all four boys tried to flag a taxi. Unfortunately, between the four of them, only Ash managed to get one.

"Nice job, Ashy-boy!" Gary commented. Drew and Paul glanced their way before continuing their futile attempts to call a taxi.

"Great, now I'm gonna be late for roll call and lose my dorm," Drew moaned, catching Ash's attention.

"Really? Are you going to Almia's Ranger Academy too?" Ash asked him. Drew nodded. Ash quickly inquired the same thing of Paul, receiving a grunt and a slight nod. "That's great! We can all go together!"

"Are you crazy!?" Gary shouted. Then he paused. "Never mind. I already know you are."

"Hey! I'm just trying to be nice, and I'm the one that called the taxi. Can you take us all to Almia's Ranger Academy?" The last statement was directed towards the driver who nodded. Ash basically forced the other three boys into the car with him, and they set off for Almia's Ranger Academy.

-oOo-

It was 8:50 PM by the time the taxi pulled up to the school dorms. Ash, Gary, Drew, and Paul quickly paid the driver and got out. Then Ash noticed someone else outside with them.

"Hey! Look over there!" he cried, pointing at someone on a motorcycle. They turned their head slightly at Ash's loud voice, then got off their bike, heading for the dorm building.

"I think that's D.S. from the Motocross race in Camie! He came in second to the Ghost Rider," Ash continued ecstatically. At the mention of the Ghost Rider, Gary's face broke into a grin.

"That Ghost Rider girl is pretty hawt," Gary commented with a smirk. Drew shot him a withering glare before Paul led the way into the dorms and everyone followed. They walked down the hallway, following D.S. to an elevator. All five of them got on and stood in an awkward silence, Ash being the only person trying to converse with the others. Once the elevator arrived, everyone got off. Paul noticed the ID cards and handed them out without uttering a word. In the deafening silence, all five boys noticed two things: a pair of shoes on the mudroom's shoe rack, and the sound of a guitar from beyond the closed door. Upon exiting the elevator, D.S. took off his biker jacket to reveal a white shirt with a paint-like splatter of skull shaped designs. He then put the jacket into the coat closet near the shoe rack before taking his shoes off and putting them on the rack. D.S. then moved toward the closed door, starting to take off his helmet. Ash and Gary gasped once the helmet was off. They finally got to see the legendary D.S.'s face! Drew just stood there, silently laughing at Gary's expression while Paul just walked past them all into the actual dormitory. D.S. ignored them all as he entered the living room, pulling out the second place trophy he won out of his bag. Looking at it briefly before setting it on a clear table, he pulled out a camera and took a picture of it before picking it up again to put it away once more. He looked at Ash and Gary, revealing his coal black eyes, hot pink around the rim of his irises.

He took in their faces, which looked similar to that of a goldfish, before silently turning away and spotting another boy, whom none of them had met sitting on the couch. The new boy had messy teal hair, his bangs hanging in front of his amethyst eyes and was holding a guitar. His face was growing redder by the second as the other five teenagers in the room were staring at him, Ash and Gary having recovered from their goldfish faces.

"Were you the one playing earlier?" Drew asked the teal haired teen, who nodded mutely.

"Wow, you're really good at it!" Ash exclaimed, advancing towards him before eagerly sticking out his hand. "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"

"Ashy-boy, you better calm down before you scare the kid to death," Gary chuckled. The guitarist had indeed gone from tomato red to deathly white in less than half a second after Ash approached him. "Also, you don't need to announce where you're from to everyone you meet."

"Well, at least I'm trying to be friendly! I don't see you doing anything, Gary!" Ash retorted indignantly. "And I don't announce where I'm from to everyone! Just most people."

D.S. walked over to the teal haired boy. "We're roommates, my name is Drake…" he announced as he put his hands in his pockets.

The teal-haired boy muttered something that sounded like "M-my n-name is S-Samuel W-White," his face growing red once more as everyone's gaze turned back to him. Then Paul shrugged and left to find his room, followed by Drew. Ash and Gary were still unsure about what had been said, but soon followed Paul and Drew down the hall to the bedrooms.

Drake nodded as he went to put his stuff away. "See ya' Samuel..."

Samuel sat there for well over ten minutes after Drake left, hoping against all odds that he would be asleep by the time he entered the dorms.

-oOo-

Drake was on his bed in his part of the dorm room, looking at the video recording of the Semi-Finals...when he got to the part where Angel removes her helmet he paused it and re-winded it to pause at a better time. He wondered to his self as to why her bike was in the parking lot. He thought about it as he slowly fell asleep.

* * *

><p><em>Espeon: Well, that was a long chapter, eh Umbreon?<em>

_**Umbreon: yes, it was *still munching on cake***_

_Espeon: How long have you had that cake? Are you sure it's still safe to eat?_

Erza: CAKE IS ALWAYS SAFE TO EAT! HOW DARE YOU INSINUATE IT'S NOT!

_Espeon: (blanches in fear) Sorry Erza! I didn't mean to! Right Natsu?_

Natsu: (equally afraid) Aye sir!

_Espeon: Hey Umbreon, I just realized something._

_**Umbreon: yosh? *is now nibbling on a home made poffin***_

_Espeon: We never threw in disclaimers telling our readers we don't own Pokemon or Fairy Tail, did we?_

Ash: What's a disclaimer?

Misty: *whacks Ash with mallet* Don't ask stupid questions!

Ash: But everyone says there's no such thing as a stupid question!

Misty: Well, they're all liars.

**Umbreon: You're right! Uh...We don't own Pokemon or Fairy Tail! Misty if there is no such thing as a question and everyone is a liar...what does that say about the people you know?**

Misty: Not everyone is a liar. Only the people who say there aren't stupid questions.

Paul: Hn.

_Eseon: Hey! Paul's here!_

**Umbreon: YEY! **

_Espeon: Well, I guess we'll leave it at this, with one mini 'spoiler:' Next chapter is when the boys meet the girls!_

Erza: THERE WILL BE ROMANCE, AND WHERE IS MY 75% OF CAKE?

_Espeon: *sweatdrops* It was virtual cake, Erza... Well, I'd better go get Erza some cake before I suffer her wrath, eh Natsu?_

Natsu: (scared outta his mind by Erza) Aye sir!

_Espeon: Espeon out! PEACE! *runs off to find Erza cake.*_

**Umbreon: ...We have more cake? *runs to find Espeon***


	8. Orientation day

_Okay, so this chapter was mostly me. BUT: I've got to give credit where credit is due. Angel's flashback and conversation with Drake and Kuro was written by Umbreon. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and if you're mad at us for not updating sooner, get over it! I'll explain why after the chapter!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>*About 10 year ago – October 31<strong>__**st**__*****_

_At Hoenn's very own volcano, called Mt. Chimney, a child was moving around the area, working her way down the crater towards the lava. This girl was the age of 6, but she looked a little older because of her height, and her short dark brown hair was like a pixie cut. Her dark brown eyes watched the lava below as she continued to move down. Eventually she came to a cave that was the lowest one she could enter without getting hurt. She moved into the cave, looking at the walls._

_The walls were shimmering all around with the diamonds' raw material. She moved in circles as she danced around the cavern. The colors danced all over her dull red dress. She moved deeper into the cavern until it led outside the volcano. The area around her was completely mountainous. She jumped off the cliff she was standing on, sliding down the mountainside, jumping from each location where stray tree branches grew out of the side until she dived into the lake below. The water was like a hot tube from the volcano near it. She swam towards the surface and swam to the waters edge as she pulled herself out._

_She quickly moved around the ground as she played with the hot ground beneath the soles of her bare feet. She danced all over the hot surface, not out of pain, but out of the silent music playing in her mind. She was smiling and laughing as some of the spaces she danced on started to crack, with red hot gravel appearing underneath. She did take notice of it but continued to dance around smiling and humming the imaginary song in her mind. As she danced towards the centerpiece of this hidden area, multiple voices were coming closer to the area where she was dancing. She danced over to where she heard the voices but stayed at a relatively safe distance from the cave._

_A tall man with red hair that was slicked back and red eyes walked in with a black wolf that stood tall at his waist; he was dressed in magma red and coal black clothes. Next to him was a girl who was maybe a little younger than him. She had short light purple hair and light purple eyes. She was dressed in magma red hoodie that was half zipped up. Underneath that, she had a magma red sweater dress with red knee high boots. Standing next to her was an albino fox that, when sitting, had its head come to her hips. "Sir, this the hidden cavern with all the diamonds…" she said as she held a monitor-like device while walking into the cavern some more._

"_I wouldn't step there…" the little girl said with a giggle as she danced each step before getting anywhere near the two who had just entered. "Courtney, hold up…there's a child in here?" The woman named Courtney stopped before she fully stepped down. The said child danced around her and pulled her a little for her heels to step a little back off the spot she was going to step onto. After that she quickly danced around the hot ground doing little twirls. "It's not often someone finds my secret base." She giggled. "So what d'ya want?"_

"_We want the diamonds here." The man said. The girl laughed as she landed on the center piece's platform. "Dia-monds? I don't know what that is, but if it's the pretty rocks in the walls, you came in the wrong cave." She smiled as she climbed the center piece. "You might want to get a few feet off the ground…" she smiled. "Why?" Courtney asked. The little girl giggled. "The ground's going to open up."_

_After she said that, the ground started to split apart… And out of it came scorching hot steam. The two adults dressed in magma red jumped from their spots to get to higher ground. The little girl laughed as she jumped off the center piece, landing onto her bare feet as she danced around, easily avoiding the harsh streams of hot air escaping the ground. As she did, she reached down and picked something up as she went on her way around until she ended back at the center piece in the middle of the cavern. Once she was on the center piece, the steam from the volcano subsided and the water from the lake filled the cracks as it harden the lava from underneath. The little girl went along her way, putting each strange rock she had picked up in certain areas. "If you want the pretty rocks, you won't be able to get to them from this part of the cavern." She smiled again as she danced over each of the hot surfaces below her until she reached the platform where they were standing with their animals._

"_Ohhh, puppies…" she said as she looked at the animals. "How cute…"_

"_Kid, where can we get the diamonds?" Courtney asked. "I don't know what a dia-mond is…" she said as she puffed out her cheeks. "Child, where are the pretty rocks?" the man asked. The little girl smiled. "The pretty rocks? They're in that direction…but it's not always safe to simply step on the ground…I'll take you to the spot where I put the one's I harvested!" she smiled as she jumped down from the platform. "Step where I step, and try to keep up!" she giggled as she hopped from one patch of the igneous rock's surface to another. She kept going at a very fast pace. The other two had a slightly hard time following her since they didn't know exactly where the dangerous spots were._

_Eventually, as the little girl stepped onto the ground, she did a little turn with a smile as she moved even farther towards the wall of the cavern. Once she was close enough she jumped onto the wall and started to climb up until she reached an outward platform. "Up here! This wall is okay to climb from anywhere…" she smiled. As they reach the top she smiled as she entered the cave that was on that platform. They entered and saw the shine of the diamonds. It almost blinded them. She smiled as she went to climb the wall to leave them with the shiny rocks. Then a hand grabbed her ankle. She looked back down to the man with the black wolf holding her ankle. "You seem to know a lot about this terrain…" he smiled._

"_Uh-huh…why?" she asked, confused as to why that mattered. "So, you are going to come with us…you seem to have a talent for finding what we want." He said as he looked at all the diamonds in the cavern. "Finding pretty rocks?" she asked as she looked at him like it was strange to not be able to find pretty thing. "No…you are going to join our ranks and learn much more than how to find rocks…" he said with a smile. With a quick turn of his hand, she fell into the bag of diamonds that the woman named Courtney was holding. "Well Courtney, we have a new recruit for the next mission…see to it she well prepared…" he said as they worked their way out of the volcano. "Of course, boss."_

-oOo-

***Present Day***

Angel shot up out of her bed, turning her head to look around, seeing that she was in her bed in her dorm room. Across the room was her roommate, April, who was still sleeping in her bed with her Pomsky sleeping at the foot of it. Angel slowly and silently got out from under the covers; she looked at the burnt scars on her soles. Carefully running her fingers down the marks, not feeling anything under her touch, even from the brand mark of the organization that was on her ankle; the mark was shaped like a volcano. Then she looked at the alarm clock on her nightstand, it said 6:00 AM. Angel got out of bed fully, remade it, and went to her closet. She grabbed her school uniform; the white button up shirt, the maroon tie and maroon plaid skirt. She started to dress herself, pulling her long dark brown hair out of the shirt as she buttoned it up. Her mind wandered to everything that had happened from the time she was 6 to now… She stopped buttoning her shirt as it was getting to the top button to look outside the window from where she was standing. The sun wasn't even up yet, but it looked so light out… The outside world… So full of life… She turned away from the brightness to finish getting dressed.

-oOo-

Misty woke up at 6:15 AM, her alarm just loud enough to wake her up without waking Dawn and Ma- Scratch that. Just Dawn. May could probably sleep through the loudest, most obnoxious person in the world screaming bloody murder and profanities galore. This thought in her head, Misty got out of bed laughing slightly. She quickly got dressed in running shorts and a loose running t-shirt. After lacing up her red running shoes, she left the room with her iPod and headphones in hand, heading straight for the kitchen. Once there, Misty grabbed her water bottle and filled it up to take on her run along with an apple. Turning around, she found herself face-to-face with Angel, fully dressed for school.

"I didn't hear you come out of your room," Misty said after a few seconds of silence. "Do you usually get up this early?"

"Nope. I usually get up at 5:00 for a morning run," Angel replied. "Why are you up?"

"I always get up around now to go running. It helps me wake up and clear my head." Misty headed towards the mudroom door. "See ya later."

"Later," Angel sighed, getting herself some breakfast.

-oOo-

Misty got back from her run around 7:15, then took a shower. Angel had spent the past hour or so exploring the apartment before taking a shower. By the time Misty got back, Angel was redressed and sitting on the couch watching TV at a low volume. Both of them were ready to go by 7:30 and were watching together. Misty glanced at the clock and decided to go wake up their roommates.

"Can you wake April up?" Misty asked Angel, who shrugged and got up. The two headed to the hallway of bedrooms. As Angel continued down the hall, Misty stopped and started banging on the door to room 34D. "DAWN! IT'S TIME TO GET UP!"

This led to Dawn yelling a rude statement back, causing a shouted argument between the two girls. It lasted for a whole five minutes before Misty left to wake May up. Knocking and exclaiming almost the same thing, Misty elicited only a groan from the sleeping brunette, so she assumed May was awake. Moving on to room 31D, the door opened before Misty could so much as touch it. Leaf stood there, her school uniform and iPod in her hands.

"I heard your yelling match with Dawn," she explained to the confused redhead. "I was just heading to take a shower."

The two girls walked down the hallway, chatting amicably with each other before parting ways, Leaf to the bathroom and Misty to the couch.

-oOo-

Angel heard the yelling match between Misty and Dawn from halfway down the hallway. Continuing on without so much as a flinch, she entered the room she shared with April to find the blonde girl sitting up, slightly giggling at the verbal fight between the two girls at the far end of the hall. Angel cleared her throat, attracting April's attention.

"I should probably get ready…" April quickly got off her bed, disturbing her little dog in the process. She stumbled towards the dresser holding her clothes. Angel quickly headed over to help the blind girl find the correct clothes before turning away as she changed. "Will you help me with this?"

Angel turned to see April fully dressed, holding out her maroon tie. She quickly helped April tie it before getting a leash and a retractable cane for the blind girl. April quickly moved to retrieve the black messenger bag she had left by the chest, and managed to do so after tripping over said chest crying, "Kyaa!" Slinging the bag over her shoulder, April stashed her cane inside before fastening the leash to Bravenwulf's collar and her own wrist. Signalling she was ready, the two girls headed back towards the kitchen, running into an angry Dawn on the way who was moving around the kitchen to make breakfast. Angel led April to the couch and sat her down on it. Also on the couch were Misty and Leaf who were watching TV and making small talk with each other.

"Where's May?" April asked causing everyone else to look around the room.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't seen her at all. She just groaned at me through her closed door when I tried to wake her up," Misty responded thoughtfully. Leaf glanced at the redhead.

"Ten bucks says she's still asleep," the brown-eyed girl said.

"You're on." Misty got up to check on May and Angel sat down silently on a love seat with the remote. A few minutes later, she came back and silently handed Leaf the money, causing the brunette to smirk.

"Breakfast's ready!" Dawn called from the kitchen. As April and Leaf got up, headed for the kitchen, a resounding _THUMP_ echoed through the dorm.

"Now she's awake," April murmured, and true to her word the blue-eyed brunette came rushing down the hallway and into the kitchen, still in her pajamas.

-oOo-

Paul woke up in a bad mood, but wasn't sure what had caused it. Rolling over in his double bed and sitting up, he remembered. The walls of his bedroom were painted a hot magenta, and his comforter was the same color as his hair. The sheets were black, along with the pillowcases and carpet. His bed frame was black steel and his desk painted with a black lacquer. He got up, trying to figure out what woke him up when he heard a knock at his door. Getting out of his bed, he walked over and opened it enough for him to look out without whoever was out there getting a look at the pink walls. He was seriously going to kill whoever painted his room.

Standing outside his door was the short boy with teal hair. He quickly handed Paul a sheet of paper before rushing towards Gary's room noiselessly. If it hadn't been for the single sentence he'd muttered last night, Paul would've assumed he was mute. Shutting the door, Paul quickly headed to his closet. He pulled out the white shirt and navy tie of his uniform, along with a pair of black slacks. '_Stupid Uniform,'_ he thought as he put it on, leaving the tie only loosely done up. He then left the room, quickly closing the door behind him, and headed for the kitchen to get some breakfast.

As he was eating the cereal he'd gotten himself, he saw Gary, Drew, and Ash all enter the room in that exact order dressed in their school uniforms with their own personal additions or changes. Gary had a purple teardrop-shaped pendant, Drew left his white shirt open to reveal a black one underneath, and Ash wore a red and white baseball cap. Drake, who had been on the couch by the time Paul came in, was wearing a black vest over his white shirt along with an aquamarine teardrop pendant. Samuel had somehow snuck past him and was sitting against the back of the couch, trying to hide from the others. He had a black jacket on over his white shirt, which was partially open with a red one below it.

At 8:10, they all left, hoping they would be able to get to their 8:30 orientation on time. Well, Paul was just hoping he didn't end up killing the idiots he had to share a room with.

-oOo-

"Hurry up!" May called.

"We are hurrying!" Misty snapped. The girls were currently racing across the campus to get to orientation on time. They were all in their school uniforms, consisting of a white button-up dress shirt, maroon tie, and plaid maroon skirt. Of course, they couldn't help but express themselves as much as the uniform allowed. May had a red bandana tied around her head, Dawn with pink triangular clips holding back her bangs, Misty wore powder blue leggings, Leaf had her headphones dangling down the front of her shirt, Angel had a cross on a chain, and April carried her scarlet-orange messenger bag.

They arrived at 8:29 and quickly headed for the only open seats in the entire auditorium. As the headmaster started talking, the girls caught their breath before noticing the six boys they were sitting next to. They all stared at each other in silence, aside from April of course. Ash decided to break the silence as he was feeling uncomfortable.

"I'm Ash Ketchum," he told the girls, sticking out his hand to the closest person, who happened to be Misty. She blushed slightly before taking it.

"Misty Waterflower," she responded. This led to introductions from the rest of the group. Ash introduced Paul and Samuel since Paul refused to say anything more than, 'Hn," and Samuel couldn't form a word if he tried. They quickly ended up switching seats to carry multiple conversations between pairs with a boy and a girl each. Drew was teasing May like there was no tomorrow, making May furious. Ash and Misty were bickering over anything and everything for no apparent reason, easily moving between topics. Dawn was annoying Paul by trying to start a conversation with him. Gary kept trying his pick-up lines on Leaf, but she just kept turning them into jokes. Drake and Angel were actually listening to the headmaster. April and Samuel sat companionably in silence, him occasionally glancing at her. This continued for the first half hour of orientation, until Bravenwulf decided it would be a good idea to jump from April's lap to Samuel's. He jumped with a nearly inaudible yelp, causing April, who was the only person that heard, to look in his direction.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. She had felt Bravenwulf jump off her lap, but assumed he was on the ground near her feet. Samuel tried to tell her, but the words wouldn't come. The dog put his front paws on Samuel's chest, making happy sounds and trying to lick his face. April heard him start giggling and figured out what was going on.

"He likes you," she told Samuel with a smile. He looked over at her questioningly, noticing for the first time that she wasn't looking directly at him.

"Really?" he whispered, feeling slightly more at ease with that knowledge. April nodded.

"If he didn't like you, he wouldn't have jumped onto your lap in the first place." April said this so confidently Samuel couldn't argue. The rest of orientation was spent making small talk or enjoying a comfortable silence.

-oOo-

Angel sat to the right of the boy who was slightly taller than her, Drake Stevens. His hair was light brown and his eyes, though facing forward, were coal black with hot pink around the irises. He was dressed in sophomore attire. Angel looked back at the speaker, waiting for the pointless activity to be over and done with. She then got the feeling she was being stared at. Carefully she looked over her left shoulder to see a junior; he had bright blue hair and bright red eyes. When he saw her looking at him, he winked at her. Angel turned her head back to the front, totally ignoring the upperclassmen.

As the talk went on, Angel felt a tap on her shoulder. She tensed for a split second before she looked to see the junior standing behind her. "Hey," he said with a smile. Angel simply glared at him and turned back to the front.

"Say, you're the Ghost Rider right?" he asked while bending down to her ear. She moved her dark brown eyes slightly to look at him.

"What of it?" she stated under her breath.

"I knew it. You want to go catch a movie with me?" he smiled as he talked softly.

"Go jump off a cliff…" she said as she brushed him aside to move slightly away from him.

"Only if you come with me…" he smirked as he picked up part of her hair. She could feel her body tensing from his unnecessary touching.

"Leave me alone before I lose my temper…" she stated with a growl in her voice. He simply chuckled.

"Why don't you just come with me, let's skip this little school meeting and go somewhere fun…" he said as he put his arms around her shoulders. This time she fully froze from him pulling her close to him.

"Hey, can't you see she doesn't want to have anything to do with you?" a voice said from the right. Both Angel and the junior with blue hair looked to see that it was the sophomore that sat next to her. "She wants to take part in this mandatory meeting since she is a freshman…moreover, Kuro...if I remember correctly you have a girlfriend."

The blunette named Kuro simply stared, or more like glared at Drake, who was seemingly trying to get in between him and Angel.

"Let her alone, before I call a teacher over…" he said as a few students that were nearby started to whisper.

"Tch…" Kuro turned and went back to the area where most of the juniors were. But Kuro continued to walk until he was out of the building. Angel sighed and released the breath that she was holding since he started to touch her. She turned to the sophomore that had apparently helped her.

"T-thanks…" she said with slight awkwardness. "I-I'm grateful for your help…" she said, awkwardly.

"No problem, so you're the Ghost Rider?" he said as if it wasn't that big of a deal. Angel sighed.

"Yeah, nobody would have known if my helmet hadn't start bothering me…" she said under her breath. Drake smiled and looked at her before he took out a little notepad and pencil. Angel looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"What are you doing? Taking notes?" She laughed a little under her breath as she leaned back to see what he was writing.

"Not really, just making sure I remember what I can for later. It's easier to take notes as it happens than to try to remember it all over again after some time passes…" he said.

Angel simply shrugged as she looked forward, seeing her roommates talking other people. Making friends? She frowned as she looked down. "Something wrong Angie?" he asked. Angel looked up quickly, her eyes looked at him confused.

"What did you call me?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Angie, it's a nickname." Angel looked down slightly. 'A nickname….' She thought about it for a minute, with a small blush on her cheeks. Drake looked at her with her head down.

"What, you don't want to be called by a nickname?" She kept her head down as she shook her head.

"I-It's not that…why give me a nickname…you don't even know me." She asked.

"Hmm? I just thought it would be alright since we just became friends…" he said without missing a beat.

Angel's head snapped up when he called himself her 'friend'. She started to chuckle, and then started to laugh softly. With a smile on her face, she looked up at him and said, "Alright, then I'll call you D.S." He blushed slightly at watching her smile at him but quickly hid his face. It was a minute before he looked at her.

"Why, D.S.?" he inquired.

"Hmm, it's just because it's your initials, and because your handwriting is very similar to my rival in the Finals at the Motocross Race. See?" Angel pulled out the handwritten note from D.S that she got back when they were on the boat. She held it up for him to see.

"Why are you carrying it with you? It's just a note, not really of importance…" Drake said as he looked at his notepad.

"Well, to a regular person, yeah it would seem stupid…but for me…this was the first show of gratitude that I have received…therefore its special." Angel said as she put it back in her pocket.

"So, you have a crush on D.S.?" Drake asked with a smirk. Angel turned to look at him, her face showed it was of shock and confusion.

"A crush? No. It's simply a reminder for me…to be able to face him in the Finals and at the end, whether I win or lose, to thank him…I'm pretty sure you saw how Jack Taylor reacted once he found out I was a girl… Not very many riders are a fan of losing to a girl… Stan Richard wasn't to happy about being saved by a girl after the camera's left… But D.S. never showed poor sportsmanship towards me… I would just like to give him my thanks. Nothing more…" Angel said with a soft smile as she looked out in front of her.

-oOo-

After the 3 hour orientation was over, everyone headed out with the final announcement that things like schedule would be sent out tomorrow morning before school. The group of twelve were walking together out of the building. Suddenly, two stomachs growled in sync.

"I'm hungry!" May and Ash exclaimed at the same time. They then looked at each other and yelled, "Jinx! Double jinx! Triple jinx!"

"Shut it!" Misty yelled, a vein pulsing on her forehead. The two food-lovers shut up immediately.

"I think it's a good idea for us to get lunch. Eh, Leafy?" Gary said, nudging the brunette with his elbow. She looked at him, taking out one of her earbuds.

"Did you say something?" Leaf asked him.

"You weren't listening to me Leafy? That's just cold," Gary responded, pretending to be hurt by her statement.

"Well, you've never had anything important to say before now anyways, Oak," Leaf teased.

"You two should totally just get together now!" Dawn blurted out, causing more laughter from the teenage group when Leaf and Gary's faces turned redder than tomatoes. Even Paul smirked at their embarrassment. "But if you guys want, I can make some lunch back in our dorm."

"I can help too!" May added excitedly. Everyone nodded.

"Well, I'm not eating anything you make, airhead. I'm not sure I trust you," Drew smirked. May yelled something back, starting an argument between the two of them. This lead to another fight between Misty and Ash as well, in some way or another. Both disputes lasted the whole way to the dorms.

"Well, I bet my pokemon are better than yours!" Ash shouted at Misty before they walked through the door. Apparently their fight had turned to pokemon.

"Like you could beat my awesome water pokemon!" Misty shouted back.

"I know! Why don't you have a battle while May and Dawn cook!" Leaf suggested, hoping to stop their fight. Ash and Misty nodded, both looking determined. Less than ten minutes later, everyone was upstairs in the girl's apartment. It turned out that all of them except April, Samuel, Angel, and Drake owned at least one deck of pokemon cards. They set up a tournament in the middle of the living room floor, with the first rounds being Misty against Paul, Drew against Ash, and Gary against Leaf. While the battles happened, Dawn and May made lunch while April and Samuel disappeared into the garden area and beyond. Angel and Drake sat around, watching TV and the tournament. The first round matches ended right when Dawn and May brought out the food, April and Samuel having just re-entered the room as well. While everybody ate, Dawn and May battled each other.

The standings after lunch were Misty, Ash, Gary, and Dawn winning. Misty then battled Dawn while Gary battled Ash. May decided to commentate on Misty and Dawn's battle, telling Leaf to do the same for Gary and Ash. Leaf grudgingly obliged, though her commentary was a lot less enthusiastic than May's.

Misty ended up winning her battle, and she leaned back with a triumphant smile on her face. Dawn just sighed and started to pick up her cards. The victorious redhead also picked up her cards, only to drop them in surprise when Ash started yelling about how he finally beat Gary before running a victory lap around the room. It soon turned into Ash running for his life from a demonic Misty, holding aloft a giant mallet that she mysteriously obtained and a stream of profanities and death threats flowing from her lips. Gary was encouraging the redheaded devil by suggesting painful ways to kill Ash. Leaf was yelling at Ash to run faster if he wanted to live to see eighteen. Everyone else was speechless, except May and Dawn who were arguing over who would get to narrate Ash and Misty's battle.

"Hey! If you two don't stop chasing each other, we won't be able to find out who's a better battler!" April exclaimed, causing the two runners to immediately halt. Unfortunately, Misty bumped into Ash as she was burning off the momentum she'd gained, causing the two of them to fall onto the ground in a pile. They were quickly to pull apart and set up their battle. Paul, Drew, and Gary started trading cards while Dawn and May both gave a play-by-play (or at least, that's what they claimed it was) on Ash and Misty's battle. Samuel and Leaf spectated the match while April listened to the commentary provided by Dawn and May. Angel and Drake just turned up the volume and continued to watch TV.

An hour later, Ash and Misty were still going at it on the battle, but almost everyone else was bored of the match and watching TV. Samuel was still watching raptly and quietly narrating the battle for April, who was sitting next to him, because May and Dawn had grown bored of the match as well. Finally, Ash finally knocked out Misty's Gyarados card, which had 100 total HP out using his Pikachu, which had 30 total HP. Nobody knew exactly how he had done so because they had been using the same cards for the past fifteen minutes, and all of Gyarados's attacks did at least 30 damage.

"YES! IN YOUR FACE, MISTY!" Ash yelled. Everyone glanced at the two who had just finished their battle, and realized Ash probably had a deathwish. Misty's shocked look quickly morphed into an angry face that would scare the devil to death. As soon as Ash noticed this, he ran as fast as he could through the garden, Misty following him. Gary chased them, using his phone to videotape the action, and everyone else followed him, Samuel leading April. Misty chased Ash through the rose garden to the wave pool, where he slipped and fell in. He took advantage of this by diving to the bottom, hoping that Misty wouldn't (or couldn't) follow him. Unfortunately for him, Misty happened to be a water demon, quickly diving in after him, where she swiftly proceeded in catching and hurting him. By the time they surfaced for breath, Ash had a black eye and several bruises, mainly on his head. He immediately apologized for bragging, and they both climbed out, helped by Leaf and Drew.

Gary was still videotaping them, and when Ash realized this, he tried to get the phone. Gary quickly threw it to Drew, who threw it to May, who passed it to Dawn. Next Paul got it, followed by Leaf, then Misty before tossing it to Angel. Angel passed it to Drake, not wanting to be part of the game and heading beyond the pool. Drake immediately passed it to Samuel before following Angel. Samuel looked scared when he saw Ash heading for him and ran for the garden, dragging April with him, as he was still holding her arm from when he was guiding her earlier. Everyone chased after him to continue the game of keepaway. It lasted for almost an hour before Ash and Misty got into another fight.

-oOo-

After passing the pool, Angel proceeded to the small dark room in which she keeps her bike and tools to work on it with. She grabbed a wrench and started tinkering with the engine on her bike. A few minutes later, she hears the sound of the door closing.

'_That's weird. I swear I closed it behind me,'_ the brunette thought. She shrugged, assuming it hadn't closed all the way before. Well, that's what she assumed before the hand touched her shoulder. As soon as she felt the hand, Angel whipped around, ready to severely injure whoever the hand belonged to. She swung the wrench in her hand, coming into contact with thin air as Drake backed up quickly. He was moving so fast, he didn't stop fast enough to avoid collision with the solid metal shelves up against the wall. Neither of them noticed the top shelf wobble.

"Easy there!" Drake exclaimed, putting his hands up as he stepped forward so he wasn't leaning on the shelves. This simple movement caused the top shelf to wobble even more as the entire unit settled back to where it was before Drake collided with it. The one underneath it also began to lean towards the door.

"What are you doing in here?" Angel demanded as the loose shelves tilted. Both teens were still oblivious to them. As Drake opened his mouth to respond, the top shelf fell, vibrating the cart and causing the other loose shelf to slide off in front of the door. The top shelf landed on top of Drake, who crashed into Angel. Both were effectively trapped by the metal shelf, which was quite heavy seeing as how it was a sheet of solid steel and inch or two thick. And even if they could get out from underneath it, the shelf in front of the door prevented it from opening, as it opened inward.

"Crap," Drake grunted, trying to shift the shelf off of his back by pushing himself off the ground. It didn't work. "Well, this is awkward…"

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Angel gasped, her breathing uneven. Drake figured this was because he'd fallen on her, literally laying on top of her with their faces about three inches apart. Then he noticed how tense she was as she continued in a slightly panicked voice. "Get off of me right now."

"I really wish I could," the teenage boy groaned, the shelf pressing on his back heavily. He didn't understand why Angel sounded so terrified. Then he remembered her reaction to his hand on her shoulder and when Kuro had touched her during orientation. His eyes widened as he came to a conclusion. "You're haphephobic, aren't you?"

"Yes! Now get off me!" the girl cried, pushing on the brunet boy's chest. He could see perspiration on her brow thanks to the light streaming in from the overhead light. Drake could also hear that Angel was starting to hyperventilate and felt her starting to tremble underneath him. Angel felt like her heart was trying to break out of her chest along with a wave of nausea. Both brown haired teenagers were struggling to get the shelf off of them and failing miserably. Drake cursed under his breath before calling for help when it became clear they were getting nowhere. He could only hope that the others heard him and quickly came to find them.

* * *

><p><em>Okay. Whaddaya think? Please review to tell me and Umbreon.<em>

Drew: You really need to stop asking for reviews.

_Espeon: Really? Then what would you have me do?_

Drew: Well... Um...

_Espeon: If you can't do it better, then don't criticize me Drew. Okay, so some things to clear up: Samuel is shy to the point of being afraid of unwanted attention, and haphephobia is the fear of being touched, meaning Angel doesn't like it when people touch her. April is an exception to that because they know each other from way back when. I won't tell you how they know each other because it might come up later in the story._

Leaf: So, in short, Espeon doesn't know how exactly they know each other. Umbreon might though.

_Espeon: *Crouched in the corner* I'm sorry..._

May: You forgot to tell them why it took a while to update!

Dawn: Yeah! And you can't do that from the corner!

_Espeon: *Out of corner* Oh yeah! I've been hooked on writing another story, and I'll end up posting it. It's technically a collaboration, but I don't know how often Umbreon will work on it. It was my idea, and I've written several chapters already... Plus, Umbreon came up with another idea for a different story, so that'll probably be mostly her. We don't know yet._

Ash: I like that other story! I get to use weapons!

Misty: *Hits Ash* You idiot! You weren't supposed to tell them anything about it!

_Espeon: Don't worry. I'm gonna post it like, right after this so... Yeah. Please review and excuse me while I go polish up the first chapter of the new fic before posting. Espeon out! Peace!_


	9. First day jitters

_Sorry for a really late update. To make it up to you I'm gonna post another chapter of a different story! Yay! Anyways, our Halloween special is gonna be really late, like maybe in a week or two. Sorry, we just weren't prepared. I promise I'll try really hard to write the Thanksgiving/Black Friday one on time! Now read before I bore you with my A/N!_

* * *

><p>"Hey Ashy-boy! Get your butt out of bed right this instant or I'll tell your mom that you only brought one pair of underpants!" Gary shouted, banging on Ash's room. All he got in response was a groan. Then he grinned, thinking of the girls they'd met yesterday, along with what would happen if he followed through on his threat. "And when she sends you a thousand more pairs, I'll take pictures of them all and show them to Misty!"<p>

"You wouldn't!" Ash called after he fell out of bed with a thump, landing on his navy blue carpet.

"You're right. I'd deliver the box straight to her and say they were from you with love," the brunet boy smirked before running down the hallway into the living room. When Ash ran to his door and opened it, ready to slaughter his childhood friend, he saw nobody there. Muttering curses that might've made his mom wash his mouth out with soap, he slammed the door shut again and turned to get dressed for the official first day of school. Yay.

Ash's room had scarlet walls with yellow lightning bolts all over. His comforter was cobalt blue and his sheets were a dark red. The pillows were a dark goldenrod, and the bed frame was made of a shiny brass. In the corner stood a wooden desk that was painted steel blue, and its handles were a rich amber color. Of course, Ash didn't care about the exact colors. He just cared that it was the three colors that his favorite was constantly changing between: red, blue, and yellow. Of course green wasn't all that bad…

Shaking his head to clear it of unwanted thoughts, Ash thought about how he could get revenge on Gary. Maybe he'd ask that Misty girl if he could borrow her mallet. Happy thoughts of revenge running through his head, Ash opened his closet. He quickly put on his uniform before looking at his collection of hats. After deliberating for a few minutes, he shrugged and grabbed one randomly before putting it on his head. He happened to grab a red one with a black stripe down the middle and a pokeball symbol on it. Buttoning the top button of his short-sleeved white dress shirt, he walked out of the room while struggling to tie his navy blue tie. He still hadn't managed it when he got to the kitchen. He just gave up, hanging it on around his neck and grabbing some food for himself.

As he sat down on one of the two leather recliners in the living room area, he realized almost everyone else was also sitting there, but had already finished their breakfast. Paul and Drake were sitting on the couch, watching something on TV while Gary and Drew were arguing over something. It sounded like what hair gel was best. He looked around for the sixth boy that lived in the room with them, but didn't see him anywhere.

"Where'd Samuel end up?" Ash asked. Paul merely shrugged, not turning from the TV. Gary and Drew completely ignored Ash's question. Drake, on the other hand, turned to Ash.

"No idea. He was gone when I woke up, along with his guitar. Haven't seen him since last night," the light brunet stated. He then turned back to the TV and added, "He'll probably show up before it's time to leave though."

Ash shrugged and continued eating, watching Gary and Drew's fight. Suddenly, everyone heard 'You are my Sunshine' playing. Drew, his face redder than Ash's hat, pulled a green iPhone from his pocket and accepting a call.

"Hello?" he said after putting the phone up to his ear. He quickly held it nearly a foot away as a girl started yelling on the other end of the conversation.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL ME YESTERDAY!? YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD!" Everyone heard this reasonably clearly from the speakers of Drew's cell phone. Gary and Ash immediately burst out laughing, earning themselves a glare from the green-haired boy.

"I'm sorry Abby. I got a bit caught up yesterday and forgot," he responded after cautiously moving the phone closer. He regretted it as soon as the girl started speaking again. Well, more like shrieking.

"YOU'RE GONNA NEED TO BE MORE SPECIFIC THAN THAT ANDY! WHAT COULD BE SO IMPORTANT YOU FORGET TO CALL YOUR OWN SISTER?!" Ash and Gary started laughing even harder at the nickname Drew's sister gave him. Drew pointedly ignored them.

"Yesterday was orientation and my roommates and I met some girls who invited us over for lunch." As soon as the words had left his mouth, Drew facepalmed. He knew exactly what his sisters would say next. Ash and Gary grinned at each other and moved closer. They knew the signs of when to come closer. They had learned that eavesdropping skill soon after their older siblings had gone to college.

"Girls? How many? Were any of them cute? Will you bring any of them home during the holidays? At least tell me you proposed to one of them! I can't take care of you forever you know!" This new development threw the boys into more fits of laughter, which only got harder as Drew's face turned redder than Misty's anger towards Ash would be considered.

"Abby! I'm only seventeen! I'm not gonna propose to some random girl I just met! I'm not even going to propose to a girl I've known for years yet! Now shouldn't you be headed for school by now?" Drew was quick to change the subject while aiming a punch at Gary, who easily dodged, still doubled over from Abby's earlier demands via phone.

"Nope! It's, like, three in the afternoon here. Which means I can talk for a while," Abby replied happily. Drew knew she was smiling innocently, and would soon steer the conversation back to the previous topic, and he would rather die than continue on that subject.

"Unfortunately, it's time for me to go to my first class. Bye Abby!" Drew said hurriedly, barely waiting for his sister to say goodbye before hanging up. Then he turned to Ash and Gary, who were looking at him with smug grins. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing. Well, except for you _Andy_," Gary smirked, causing Ash to start giggling.

"I will kill you, Oak!" Drew cried, leaping towards the spiky-haired boy, who dodged and started running around the dorm. Nobody noticed Samuel enter the dorm from the mudroom, his guitar on his back and a pile of papers in his arms. He took one look at Drew chasing Gary, Ash doubled over in laughter, and Paul and Drake watching TV before deciding it would be better to come back in a few minutes.

-oOo-

"MAY! I'm not leaving until you open this door!" Misty yelled, banging on the door to room 32D, just like she had been for the past ten minutes. Leaf came down the hallway from her room, fully dressed.

"You're really dedicated today, aren't you?" she teased the redhead, who continued hammering on the door as though she intended to break it down. Shaking her head, Leaf gently pushed Misty out of the way. "Let me handle this. Otherwise we'll have to explain why you were trying to break down the door, along with having to pay for it."

"And what makes you think you'll have better luck?" Misty asked, still fuming from losing to Ash yesterday. It didn't help that May wasn't listening to her, causing her to become even angrier.

"Because I've figured out what to do based on the two days I've known May. May, if you don't come out of here fully dressed within the next ten minutes, I'll eat your breakfast!" Leaf shouted. Instantly, they heard May fall out of bed and run around getting dressed. In less than three minutes flat, the short-haired brunette pulled open her door.

"What's for breakfast?" May inquired with a grin. Misty hit her head against the wall in frustration before turning and walking away, muttering curses and profanities galore under her breath. May watched her storm down the hall before turning to Leaf. "What's with her?"

"Sore loser," Leaf replied.

-oOo-

By the time Samuel braved entering the dorm again, everyone had calmed down. Well, Gary and Drew were pointedly ignoring each other, but they weren't trying to kill each other. This time, Ash actually noticed Samuel as he entered the room.

"There you are! I wondered where you went earlier," Ash exclaimed as he spotted the teal-haired boy, who started as he realized somebody had noticed him. Of course, now that attention had been called to him, everyone else looked over at Samuel as well.

"What're those papers?" Drew asked him.

"Um, I got the papers from the boxes in the mudroom," Samuel muttered as he looked down at his feet, causing his bangs covering his purple eyes. "They aren't all mine, though."

"Well, in that case, let's take a look at them," Gary responded, gesturing for the shy boy to come over. Nodding, he did. He took some off the bottom and handed the rest to Gary, who handed them out to their respective owners. However, he purposely kept Drew's, just to irk him. As Drew opened his mouth to challenge him though, Drake looked over and sighed.

"Just give him his papers, Gary. He actually needs some of them for school today," was all that was said by the gray-eyed brunet. Gary was about to protest when he saw Paul glaring at him, so he handed over the papers without a word. He would never say it, but Paul scared him nearly as much as Giovanni did. Scratch that. Paul was ten times as scary.

"Thank you," Drew stated with a smirk.

"Go die in a hole," was the response as Gary looked over his own papers.

-oOo-

"We might actually make it on time today!" April cried happily after Angel informed her they were leaving. They had to be in class at 7:45, so they gave themselves plenty of time to find their classrooms since it was only 7:15. Misty had found their schedules among the papers they had received that morning. Of course, what interested her more was the paper that advertised the sports teams, which were all coached by the P.E. teacher, Bob Surge. She planned to find him before school to find out more.

Outside the dormitory building, the six girls ran into the boys from yesterday. They all grouped together and compared schedules. It turned out that Ash and Misty both had Government and Politics while Gary, Leaf, May, Drew, Dawn, and April all had Drama. Paul, Drake, Angel, and Samuel all had Machinery class together as well. Breaking into those groups, they headed off to their first period class. Well, except for Misty and Ash. Both were racing to the gym, eager to beat the other to speaking to Surge about the sports teams.

Misty ended up beating Ash, but only by a few seconds. They both approached the blonde giant of a man they assumed to be the P.E. teacher. He was wearing a tight dark olive green muscle shirt, camouflage cargo pants, black combat boots, a pair of sunglasses, and an army dog tag.

"Um, excuse me. Are you Mr. Surge?" Misty asked the man tentatively. He was almost an entire two feet taller than her, and Misty was about five and a half feet tall, putting this man at over seven feet tall.

"That's Lieutenant Surge to you, babies!" the man barked at them. He had a distinct accent, which sounded like one of the many that originated in a far-off country. "What can I do for you two babies?"

"Who are you calling a baby?" Ash demanded of the tall man, earning himself a kick from Misty.

"I'm callin' you a baby, baby. But I see your girlfriend here knows not to talk back to a teacher," Lt. Surge replied with a grin.

"We were wondering about the sports teams," Misty quickly informed the P.E. teacher.

"Which ones? We do a whole lotta sports here at Almia. You gotta be specific." Surge folded his arms and stared down at them.

"All of them!" the two teens replied with huge smiles.

"All right then babies. I'll let you two know when the tryouts are. When are you in my class?" The tall man couldn't help but smile at their enthusiasm.

"Period 1B!" Ash and Misty exclaimed in sync.

"Then I'll see you both tomorrow. Get movin' to your first class today, or I'll have you both doin' a thousand push-ups tomorrow!" Lt. Surge bellowed at them. Both saluted him and ran off to find their Government and Politics class. They arrived and sat down just before the bell rang. Of course, there were only two seats open, and they happened to be in the same column, one in front of the other. Ash shoved in front of Misty, obtaining both the front seat and a smack on the back of his head.

"Now I won't be able to see, since there's you and two other people with fat heads in front of me," Misty muttered to Ash, who was rubbing his head. He was about to respond when the teacher, a woman with hot pink hair and baby blue eyes, called the class together.

"Hello class, and welcome to Government and Politics. I'm your teacher, Miss Saori. But you can just call me Solidad. In this class, we'll not only be learning how our government works here in the nearby regions, like Kanto, Almia, Johto, and Sinnoh, but we'll also have occasional debates to learn about politics. But today we'll just go over the syllabus." As Solidad continued talking, Misty rested her chin in her hand. In front of her, Ash had laid his head down between his arms. Nearly an hour and a twenty minutes later, class was nearly over and Ash hadn't changed his position once, which made Misty suspicious. Leaning over her desk, Misty heard a soft snore coming from the boy, which confirmed her guess. She glanced up at the teacher, who was on the other side of the room passing out a paper copy of her syllabus, before pulling her leg back and kicking the bottom of Ash's chair, startling him awake.

"Who- Wha- Huh?" he yelped, eliciting laughter from the rest of the class, Misty included. Solidad glanced over at the raven-haired boy, looking around in a surprised manner. She walked over to Ash to talk to him.

"What's your name? she asked him, her arms crossed.

"Ash Ketchum, miss," he stuttered.

"Next time you fall asleep in class Mr. Ketchum, you'll get more than a warning. Understood?" Solidad demanded. Ash nodded, an apologetic grin on his face. Needless to say, he spent the rest of the period awake. Unfortunately for Misty, most of that time was spent annoying her.

-oOo-

On the way to Drama, the group of teens was much more sociable than Ash and Misty had been. They were all laughing and talking. Well, except for May. She was yelling at Drew, who kept calmly teasing her with a smirk on his face.

"Look at those two go at it," Dawn told April, whom she was leading. The golden blonde just shook her head.

"Can't, remember? But I can hear them just fine," she replied. Dawn looked embarassed, but smiled as Bravenwulf jumped into her arms and licked her face. Leaf and Gary watched this all while having a quiet conversation together.

"You know, Oak. You and Ketchum have changed a lot," Leaf murmured. Gary glanced at her.

"Well, that's to be expected, eh Leafy? I mean it's been what, ten years since we last saw each other?" the brunet asked her.

"Technically, we last saw each other yesterday, Gare-bear. But imagine my surprise at ending up next to my two childhood friends at my new school's orientation," Leaf replied.

"Well, I don't know about Ash, but I know I definitely missed you after you left," Gary told her. Then he paused before adding, "Now that I think about it, Ash probably didn't even realize who you were yesterday. If we'd brought this up yesterday, he probably would've said something intelligent like 'Huh?'"

"You're so mean to him. You know that right?" Leaf said, laughing.

"Hey guys! We're here!" Dawn called from where she was walking in front with April. They all entered the room as a group, stopping in the doorway. They were all stunned by the classroom, which was more of an auditorium. There was a stage at the far end of the classroom, and there were hundreds of seats descending in levels like steps between where they currently stood and the stage.

"Well don't just stand there! Come on over!" called a man with long purple hair from the stage, gesturing to them. His voice echoed through the auditorium. After glancing at each other, they proceeded down the steps towards the stage with Dawn still leading April, who held Bravenwulf in her arms. After they climbed onto the stage, the purple-haired man scrutinized them all. He then pointed at April. "You must be that blind girl in my class, right?"

"Yes, I am," she replied with a smile.

"Well, I'm not cutting you any slack. You'll be graded just like everyone else. There have been plenty of blind actors and actresses that made their way in Hollywood, so I expect no less from you. Now the rest of the class is that way, through the door on the left." The last statement was directed toward the whole group, who nodded and followed the man's directions towards backstage. Upon entering the classroom, they saw several other teenagers sitting on cushions upon the floor. The room was empty aside from the cushions and students, and it was quite spacious.

Dawn made a beeline straight for a boy with a red beret and maroon tie. He had the same color hair and eyes as her, and they embraced once Dawn reached him. Then they started talking animatedly. Leaf was approached by two boys who looked almost exactly like Gary. Well, one's eyes were a lighter green than his and the other had light brown eyes. Gary got all defensive once they started talking to her. April stayed with Drew and May, laughing at their bickering. The three of them were approached by a junior with dark pink hair and orange eyes.

"Hello there," he smiled, sitting next to April. May and Drew completely ignored him and continued arguing.

"Hi," April responded, listening to her friends' ongoing dispute.

"You look cold. Want to use me as a blanket?" the boy asked, smiling confidently.

"No thanks. It's actually a little bit warm in here," April stated, startling the boy. He frowned and decided to be more frank.

"You're so beautiful I forgot my pick-up line," he told the blonde girl, who turned and frowned at him.

"I'm sorry, but we just met, and I don't even know your name. And if you only want to date me because of my looks, then get lost. Looks don't matter to me. Personality does," April informed the pinkette.

"My name is Jason. And let me get to know you. You can start by telling me your name," he persisted, refusing to leave her alone.

"April. Now please go away because I'm not interested." April then turned back to May and Drew, interrupting their argument and starting a civil conversation with them, effectively giving Jason the cold shoulder. He got up and laughed, promising himself to not give up on that girl. At that moment, the bell rang and the purple-haired man entered the classroom.

"Welcome to Drama class! I'm the teacher, Harley McConnell. But since we're all equals here, you can just call me Harley, huns. Today, we're gonna start off with an improvisation game. First things first, I need two students to help me," he stated, looking around the room before pausing and pointing at April and May. "You two can help me. Your green-haired friend can hold your dog."

The two girls stood, and April handed Drew Bravenwulf before they walked to the front of the room next to Harley, who had them stand across from each other after getting their names.

"Okay May, I want you to stand facing April, and put your arm here like you're holding a clipboard. April, you fold your hands in front of you and face this way," the purple-haired man just showed May what to do, but physically turned and postitioned April. Then he explained how this would work. "One of you are going to start an improvised scene after the first time I clap. You'll continue it until I clap once more, in which case you freeze."

"Alright, miss…" May started out after Harley clapped once. April bit her lip before replying.

"M-My name is, um, Charlotte Muttoone," she stuttered, looking down at her feet. The other students could practically see her quaking in her green converse.

"Miss Charlotte. If you want this part, you will need to wow me with this audition. So what are you singing?" May continued, looking at her imaginary clipboard before shifting the position of an imaginary pair of glasses.

"Well, I-I don't exactly know yet," April murmured, loud enough for the others to glanced up at May. "What do you suggest?"

"Hm. How about this one?" the brunette suggested, pretending to point at something on the fake clipboard, which she stuck right in front of the blonde's face. April nodded and took a deep breath and held her clasped hands in front of her chest.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star…" The entire class burst into laughter as April belted out the children's song with no embarrassment. Even May was having trouble holding back her laughter as she put her hands on her hips. Harley then clapped, causing the two girls to freeze.

"Alright, who wants to join in next?" Harley asked, getting several people who raised their hands. "You there, boy with the pink hair. You're up. Tap one of the two people on the shoulder and take their position. Once you're ready, begin the scene."

Jason stood up and tapped May on the shoulder, taking her position. He quickly explained to April his position, and the girl nodded before starting the scene.

"Michael, I can't stand the thought of living without you! I love you too much! Please tell me you feel the same way!" April exclaimed in a fake accent, her hands over her heart. She looked ready to burst into tears.

"I'm sorry Rhea, but we just aren't meant to be. I love another," Jason replied in the same accent, folding his arms across his chest.

"Who is it? I must know!" April cried, throwing herself onto the pink-haired boy, uncrossed his arms in surprise before pushing the blonde off of him.

"Her name is Mari Aslan, and I must leave. I am meeting her for dinner later tonight," Jason said coldly as he turned to leave before April grabbed his wrist.

"Please, just spend a few more minutes with me?" she begged softly. Right then, Harley clapped, and April was rotated out. After multiple scenes, Leaf and Gary ended up together. They were both leaning forward with their faces mere inches apart. Leaf started the scene.

"How dare you do this to me!" she shouted furiously, getting even closer to Gary. Their foreheads were now actually touching now.

"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were stalking me," Gary fumed, not moving an inch.

"I wasn't! I just happened to walk into the same restaurant that you and that other girl were making out in! I can't believe you would cheat on me like that!" Leaf shoved Gary in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards as she turned her back on him with her arms crossed.

"Cheating on you!? You're the one who said we should take a break from each other last week!" Gary was now sitting on the ground, where he'd fallen after Leaf pushed him. The long-haired brunette now turned and leaned over the boy threateningly.

"You little liar! I said I was busy this week, not that we should take a break!"

"Well, that's what it seemed like you were saying!"

"Do you know how I felt when I saw you with her?" Leaf now had tears in her eyes as she glared at Gary. "It felt like someone had cut my heart into a thousand tiny pieces. I hope you're happy now, because there is no way we're going out ever again."

Harley ended the scene as Leaf stalked away, leaving Gary sitting on the ground, stunned. The next person in was the boy Dawn had been talking to earlier. He said his name was Lucas Berlitz and he took Leaf's spot. He grinned before starting.

"Didn't your mother teach you how to walk when you were two years old Atticus?" Lucas called over his shoulder to Gary, who started to get up.

"Nope. My sister did," he grinned before running over and tackling the navy blue haired boy. Everyone gasped except for Gary and Lucas, who started to wrestle around on the ground, laughing like two old friends would. Unfortunately for Lucas, Gary ended up on top.

"I won, like always Cameron," he crowed from where he was sitting on Lucas.

"Budge off. You're heavy," the blunette boy pushed Gary off of him before getting up and helping up Gary. Right when the spiky-haired boy stood up, Harley ended the scene and allowed Dawn to go up. She grinned as she switched with Gary.

"Hello Dia," Dawn said to Lucas, shaking his hand.

"It's a surprise to see you here Pearl," he responded. Then they let go of each others' hands.

"Have you heard about the garden party later this month in the park? Everyone's invited!" Dawn exclaimed excitedly.

"You don't say?" Lucas replied, seeming very interested.

"Yep. There's gonna be some great music. There'll be country, and rock. I heard they were even going to have jazz music there."

"Well, you wanna know what I say to that?"

"What?"

"Lettuce turnip the beet!"

"How about you lettuce beet you instead for your lame puns!" Dawn smacked Lucas upside the head as she said this. "But did you know there's also a maze in the garden?"

"Really? Is it hard?"

"I heard it was harder than Farmer Dawkins' corn maze."

"Well then I'll probably feel a-maze-ing once I solve it."

"I'll feel a-maze-d when you stop telling lame puns!" Dawn shouted, slapping Lucas again. "There's also gonna be a kickball game at the party though. Everyone I know that's coming is planning to play."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Are you gonna play in it?"

"I'm not sure. I always have a bit of trouble playing kickball."

"And why is that?"

"Well, I always wonder why the ball keeps getting bigger. Then it hits me." At this statement from Lucas, Dawn fell over comically before sitting up.

"You know, I hope I don't regret asking where you've been all these years."

"Oh. I moved to Switzerland for a few years."

"Really? Well, what did you like best about Switzerland?"

"I'm not sure. But the flag was definitely a big plus." Everyone was cracking up as Harley stopped the scene with Dawn strangling Lucas. As soon as Dawn was substituted out, she sat down next to May and Drew. Between a scene where Drew was switching in, May asked Dawn how she came up with that.

"Well, it's something my brother and I both know how to do. He does stuff like that all the time with his best friend Barry," the blunette replied.

"Your brother?" May inquired, confused as to what that had to do with anything.

"Yeah. Lucas is my brother," Dawn revealed with a smile. Upon seeing May's confused face she frowned. "You didn't realize that? We're nearly identical twins, aside from the fact that we're different genders."

"Nope. I don't think anybody did," April whispered as Drew's scene started, where him and another boy were playing chicken.

-oOo-

Paul, Samuel, Angel, and Drake walked in relative silence to the machinery classroom. The seats were put at tables of two in multiple rows. Angel and Drake sat at one table together in the middle while Samuel and Paul sat at one in the back. As the bell rang, a blonde man in a blue jumpsuit ran in panting. He looked around the age of twenty-two, and he wore . He stood in front of the class, bent over double before he caught his breath, straightening up and addressing the class.

"Welcome to machinery class. Or as some people might call it, shop class. I'm the teacher, Mr. Dzieciolowski. But you can just call me Clemont because it's a hard name to pronounce, and I still don't feel like Mr. anything," the teacher stated before smiling. "You'll probably be hearing a lot of talking today though, so instead, we'll start working on something simple. Does anybody know how to use a welder?"

About half of the class raised their hands, including Paul, Angel, Drake, and Samuel. During the ensuing lecture on how to properly and safely weld metal, the eight people who had raised their hands zoned out on it in different ways. Angel and Drake were drawing what looked like blueprints for motorcycle upgrades while Paul leaned back in his chair, hoping to catch a few minutes of sleep during the lecture. Samuel was writing something that looked suspiciously like music. After the mini-lesson, Clemont clapped his hands, startling everyone. Paul nearly fell out of his chair because he had been half-asleep, and Samuel hurriedly hid the paper he was writing on.

"Well, we have a good hour to spare today, so let's all make something. You have forty-five minutes to make something that can theoretically serve a purpose, even if it doesn't work. It'll be like a pretest. Your time starts now, and you may work with a single partner, but both of you must be able to explain how it works or what you did to make it. So get to work," the teacher said, also moving to work on something. All sixteen students in the class stood, several pairing up. For the next half hour, the entire classroom was a beehive of activity, louder than the average machinery shop. As the end of their time drew nearer, it became less hectic as people either gave up or finished. As everyone sat down, Clemont stood, choosing a random student pair to start them off.

The first pair was a brunette girl with a big white hat and a boy with silver eyes and maroon shoulder-length hair. It was obvious the boy, who introduced himself as Silver, would've rather worked alone, but the girl, named Lyra, had talked him into being her partner. They had made a rather pointless machine that actually worked. It was a metal box, which was intricately decorated (probably Lyra's job). On top was a switch which, when flipped on, would cause a flap to open next to it and a small robotic arm to come out and flip the switch back to its original position.

Next was a boy with floppy midnight green hair, black eyes, and glasses. He said his name was Conway, and he brought up something with wheels. He explained that he had used several old lighters he found in a box to make what he called a 'lightercycle,' explaining that he had made a miniature motorcycle out of lighters. He turned it on, driving it around the classroom. He received a round of applause from the class before he went to sit down,

After Conway came another boy with midnight green hair and glasses, only his hair was curly, looking somewhat like a mini-afro, and his eyes were dark brown, nearly black. The boy, named Khoury, had made a laser. While demonstrating with it, he accidentally set a piece of paper on fire. The nearest person put out the fire and Khoury quickly sat down, leaving the laser with Clemont. Several others followed him before Angel came up.

She brought up what looked like a medium-sized metal block with a string attached. After introducing herself, she pulled on the string and revealed that she had made a small engine, which roared to life. She listed various uses for the engine, including lawn mowers, small vehicles, or even as a small electricity generator if used properly. Everyone clapped, and Clemont congratulated her before calling up Drake, who walked up after smiling at Angel. He placed a miniature bicycle on the front desk, winding up the pedals. Once Drake let go, the bike propelled itself forward, straight off the desk, where it broke. He silently picked up the damaged bike and walked back to his seat.

Paul was next. The purple-haired teen held up what looked like a bazooka. After grunting his name, he turned towards the wall and pulled a lever on his creation. Out of it came a rapidly spiralling metal ball, no bigger than the average ball bearing. Wait, it actually was a ball bearing. He then turned and went to sit down, leaving only one person left to go.

Samuel slowly stood, picking up what he had built. He put it on the desk, his back facing the class. Using what looked like a joystick, he moved out of the way and started moving the machine he had built. It was a fully functioning robot and everyone, even Paul, looked on, intrested in the machine. Well, Paul raised his eyebrows and didn't seem bored out of his mind, so he was probably at least somewhat impressed. After a short, silent demonstration of what the robot could do, Samuel picked it up and sat down. During the entire class period, he had not said a single word, not even to explain during his demonstration. Clemont stood after a few seconds and addressed the class.

"Well, you all made very interesting things, even if they didn't always work.I think that this year will go very-" He cut off as Lyra's hand shot into the air. "Yes Lyra?"

"What did you make Mr. Clemont?" she asked, looking behind the teacher at the machine he'd been working on during the class's building time. The blonde inventor smiled and pushed his glasses up, causing the light to reflect off of their lenses so his eyes couldn't be seen.

"I'm glad you asked. You see, the future is now thanks to science! I'd present to you my Keepsafe Shield Maker Prototype 1.0! By turning on this machine, you can make an impenetrable shield around you!" Clemont announced proudly, gesturing towards the machine he'd built. Conway raised his hand.

"So basically you created a forcefield generator?" the junior inquired.

"Well, in a nutshell, yes," Clemont replied.

"So why don't you just call it that?" Conway asked.

"You're just as bad as my sister about this," Clemont sighed before turning on the machine. A light blue forcefield appeared around the machine and most of the class _ahh_ed in, well, awe. Clemont demonstrated how nothing in the classroom could pierce the energy shield, going so far as to actually punch it. He was rewarded with a somewhat injured hand. Right before the dismissal bell rang, the forcefield machine started sparking. Everyone (well, except Clemont) noticed this and ducked behind their desks. As soon as the bell rang, Clemont's 'Keepsafe Shield Maker Prototype 1.0' blew up in its inventor's face. As the smoke cleared, Clemont's soot-stained face and frizzy hair was revealed as he coughed smoke.

"Class dismissed," he said, and all sixteen students packed up, leaving the classroom.

-oOo-

The rest of the day went smoothly. For second period, Ash had machinery, (and Clemont's invention once again blew up in his face. I'm starting to feel bad for him.) Misty had science, (Nothing too interesting happened there, aside from the fact that the science teacher's name was apparently Natural Harmonia Gropius. Weird, huh? He had them call him N instead of Mr. Gropius though.) Gary and Leaf had Economics, (Even less interesting than Misty's science class, Gary actually fell asleep and Leaf drew a moustache on him. The teacher, Mr. Goodshow, let this slide as he got a kick out of it as well.) Drew and May got into a fight during their Government and Politics class, which April and Samuel were also in. (Needless to say, Solidad was pissed at them, if not also slightly amused.) Paul, Dawn, Angel, and Drake all got Italian together second period, and they learned they had three teachers. They were triplets (even though they didn't look very much alike) named Cilan, Chili, and Cress Zolnerowich, and insisted on being called by their first names because they were only a few years older than the students. It turned out that they would rotate daily, with one teaching the language classes, one assisting Brock, and the other having a day off. It seemed pretty confusing, but it wasn't too bad.

After second period, it was time for lunch. Since the school didn't have very many students this year, (approximately 200 total,) everyone had lunch together. Lunch was provided for the students via a cafeteria. During lunch hour Ash, Misty, Gary, Leaf, Drew, May, Dawn, Paul, Angel, Drake, April, and Samuel all sat together in the school's courtyard, which was about a five acre square of rolling hills with a small lake (taking up about 20 square feet) and a small copse of trees. They were at a table set up by the lakeshore as they ate, talking about their days so far.

"Clemont's invention was so cool! It was a floating chair that looked like a cloud! But then it blew up…" Ash said, relaying what had happened in his second period machinery class.

"How can a cloud chair explode?" Leaf asked skeptically.

"I dunno. It just did," Ash shrugged, not really caring about the technical details.

"The same thing happened in our class, only it was a forcefield generator that exploded," Drake said.

"Well, that blowing up may be slightly ironic, but it at least makes sense," April pointed out.

"I forgot you guys had machinery too! What did you build? I tried to make a robot pikachu, but it didn't work," Ash said.

"Figures it wouldn't Ashy-boy. I mean, _you_ were the one that built it," Gary said snidely. Ash stood and slammed his hands on the table.

"You wanna go Oak?" he said. Misty glanced around them. Noticing nobody that would care, she pulled her mallet out of her backpack and hit Ash upside the head with it before pulling him back into a sitting position by pulling on his ear.

"You shouldn't get into a fight with somebody on the first day, Ketchum. It gives you the wrong sort of reputation," Misty stated, causing Leaf to snort.

"Says the girl who just hit him with a mallet," the brunette said, eliciting a glare from her redheaded friend.

"For your information, I made sure nobody was watching when I- AHH! GET IT AWAY, GET IT AWAY, GET IT AWAY!" Misty suddenly jumped onto Ash, (surprisingly without the urge to kill him. First time for everything, though.) forgetting the rest of what she was going to say as she shrieked like she had seen a ghost.

"What's wrong Misty?" May asked. Her argument with Drew had been interrupted by the screaming redhead, so she looked over to see what was wrong.

"Th-that th-thing is w-what's wrong!" Misty said hysterically while pointing with a shaky finger towards something on their table. All eleven of her friends turned to look at where she was pointing (Well, tried in Ash's case. It's sort of hard to turn and look somewhere when you have a panicked girl climbing you. It's all he could do not to fall over.) and saw a tiny caterpillar.

"A caterpillar? That's what got you, our personal red haired devil, scared half to death?" Gary asked, trying (and failing) to not laugh. Even Paul, the emotionless rock, was showing amusement at Misty's terror. That means a lot.

"For your information, there are only three things I can't stand: bugs, carrots and peppers. Now someone GET RID OF THAT BUG!" Misty shouted.

"I'm surprised Ash isn't on that list based upon the entire day I've known you," Drew said after they'd removed the caterpillar from their immediate vicinity and Misty had climbed off of Ash.

"Shut it Hayden. If swear if you don't want me to kill you, you will not mention that again," Misty threatened him, knowing exactly what he was implying, even if unintentional. After that cheerful statement, the conversation turned to more pleasant subjects and the rest of their lunch hour passed much too fast.

-oOo-

The end of lunch brought more classes upon the students. Misty and Ash had an uneventful English class, possibly linked to the fact that their teacher, Ms. Aya Kyo, had seated them on opposite sides of the room after breaking up their first fight. Of course, Ash was teased incessantly throughout the period thanks to being seated next to none other than his childhood friend Gary Oak while Misty got her ear chatted off by May, who also had English during period 3a. Leaf had a quiet period in Science class just like Dawn in Economics. Well, Dawn was actually seated beside Conway, whom she dubbed 'creepy.' The boy just shrugged off that comment and continued bugging the blunette regardless. Drew and Paul both ignored their Math teacher's lecture to the point of falling asleep because Ms. Roxanne Goldsmith was only going over the syllabus. April, Angel, Drake, and Samuel all ended up running laps in P.E. because Lt. Surge was brutal. He had everybody run, despite the fact that half the girls were wearing heels as they'd expected a day without any running since it was the first day of school.

Fourth period wasn't much better for most of them. Ash, Misty, April, and Samuel had Spanish class, which happened to be taught by the Zolnerowich triplets just like Italian had been. They had an interesting class where Ash accidentally mispronounced Spanish words, including once when he cussed in Spanish trying to pronounce a common word. Gary took a nap in science, resulting in more face art thanks to his lab partner: Dawn. N, their teacher, purposefully ignored it just as Mr. Goodshow had earlier in the day. May, Drake, and Leaf sat together in their Math class. Once it was apparent that Leaf and Drake wouldn't talk to her, May pulled out her phone and started texting Dawn underneath the desk. The blunette would respond in between different drawings on the canvas known as Gary's face. In economics class, Drew started a debate with Mr. Goodshow on the economic standings of various regions, and April also ended up in their debate after Drew asked her opinion on the economic standings of her home region of Sinnoh. Paul merely tolerated the constant chatter of the blonde girl sitting next to him, whose name was Bianca.

Fifth period, which was mercifully the final hour-and-a-half-long class of the day, came after what felt like forever. April, Samuel, and Ash had their math class, and Ash once more fell asleep. April and Samuel spent the rest of the period poking him when Ms. Roxanne wasn't looking in an attempt to wake him up. Misty had a blissful Ash-free period after seeing him for over three hours straight during Art class. She actually like her teacher, who insisted they call him by his first name Tracey instead of calling him Mr. Sketchit. Drew, May, Dawn, and Paul had P.E. together, getting the same experience as April, Angel, Drake, and Samuel two periods earlier. The only difference was that May and Dawn were two of the girls who'd worn heels, therefore having to run laps in them. This lead to Drew inevitably teasing May and Dawn begging Paul to give her a piggy-back ride, to which the purple-haired boy adamantly refused. Gary, Leaf, Angel, and Drake had a dance class taught by Mademoiselle Fantian LeBeau. However, it was what happened before class began that could be considered more interesting. As they entered the classroom, they heard a girl named Marina going on about something. She was obviously in a fantasy world, based on the way she was acting.

"I'm gonna be a great actor, just like Fabu-Lance! " she exclaimed.

"You mean that actor from that one movie where he wore a cape?" asked a boy with a yellow and black baseball cap, which he wore backwards.

"Yeah, that's the one Jimmy! Oh, he's so strong, brave and _majorly_ cute. Someday, I'm gonna be in a movie with the great Lance Stevens, and we're going to be the lead actors who end up kissing!" As Marina said this, Jimmy fake barfed. Drake tensed and a slightly disturbed look flicked across his face.

"You do know he's not your- Oh, wow. That's... " Jimmy was at a loss for words as Marina stuck a scrapbook right in front of his face. Gary, looking over his shoulder, supplied him with word suggestions.

"Weird? Disturbing? Crazy? Unique?" Leaf walked over to Gary and pulled him away by the ear.

"I think that your scrapbook is wonderful!" Leaf called over to Marina as she dragged Gary towards the far side of the room. As soon as everybody except Angel and Drake were caught up in another conversation, she slapped the spiky-haired boy.

"Hey! What the heck Leafy?" Gary nearly shouted at her while rubbing his cheek. Surprisingly, nobody had heard the slap or Gary's exclamation.

"That was rude Gary. I thought you'd have more tact than to insult a girl to her face," Leaf informed him.

"I wasn't insulting her. I was saying how creepy her scrapbook was," Gary said.

"Which can be found quite insulting. Seriously, do you even know how bad that sounds from somebody whose face is covered in black Sharpie?" Gary pulled out his cell phone to check his reflection in the screen before cussing.

"Not again!" he moaned. Dawn had done her work well, giving him intricate Sharpie drawings all over his face, including a chibi version of himself being beaten up by a chibi Misty. At least, that's what it looked like. As Gary stuck his phone back into his pocket, the bell rang and the teacher walked into the room and started the class. They started learning a partner dance. The class had an even amount of boys and girls, so she quickly paired off each boy with the girl closest to him. This resulted in Gary with Leaf and Drake with Angel.

* * *

><p><em>Ugh, really long. But I couldn't leave you with only the first period, so I had to do more. As always, please review!<em>

Gary: What's with girls drawing on my face?!

_Espeon: *Shrugs* Dunno. I felt like it, so deal._

Gary: You're evil.

_Espeon: One of the many perks of being author. Oh, you're probably gonna end up failing Gary._

Gary: What!?

_Espeon: Yup. And Ash is gonna also struggle in science, so Umbreon said you can use her backyard for extra credit science experiments._

Ash: Really? Why?

_Espeon: Well, we saw this one video by slo-mo dudes where they popped a giant water balloon in someone's backyard so..._

Leaf: That's all?

_Espeon: Yeah..._

Misty: Wow. Sounds like something Idiot 1 and Idiot 2 over there would do.

Ash and Gary: Hey!

_Espeon: I'm gonna leave you with one more reason to review: Let's say we were planning a future fic. What shippings would **you** as readers like to see? Tell us in a review and excuse me while I write stuff feverishly. Wolfie out! Peace!_

Leaf: *Whispers* You're Espeon, not Wolfie. Remember?

_Espeon: *Whispers back* Oh yeah. Oops. *Turns to readers* I mean Espeon out! Peace!_


	10. Some Peeping Toms

_Would it kill you people to review? It keeps chapters coming and keeps me and Umbreon out of our emo corner. Yes, we have one of those. It's dark, sad, secretive, brooding, and real. I'm not kidding. Anyways, enjoy this chapter. The next one will be our late Halloween one._

* * *

><p>"What are you two doing?" Leaf asked, coming into the living room and seeing both May and Dawn laying on the ground staring at various pieces of paper spread over the ground.<p>

"Homework," they replied in sync. Dawn wrote something down, looked it over, then erased it again.

"I finished that stuff hours ago. When did you start?" Leaf asked, sitting down beside them.

"A couple hours ago, right after you finished," Dawn said.

"Want some help?" Leaf looked over Dawn's shoulder to see that the blunette was struggling with their history homework.

"Sure. When did Garrison Blair discover the Sinnoh region?" Leaf paused for less than half a second before answering.

"That's easy. 1512 is when Sinnoh was discovered, and Garrison Blair went on to discover Unova in 1520 before dying in 1525." Dawn and May just stared at Leaf speechless at how fast she'd rattled off those dates. "What about you May? Is it math?"

"Uh-huh," the short-haired brunette nodded.

"How can I help?" Leaf got ready to rattle off the answer to a random math problem.

"I don't get it." This caused Leaf to literally fall forward in shock.

"What don't you get?" _Please don't say everything, please don't say everything, please don't say-_

"Everything. Why are there letters in Math? I thought it was just numbers. And what do they mean when they say, 'solve for x?' Doesn't x=x?" May said. Leaf groaned and facepalmed.

"Do you ever pay attention in class?" Leaf asked her friend.

"Sometimes. Why?" Misty said, walking in the door. "What're you all doing?"

"Homework," Dawn and May chorused. Again.

"Why are you doing homework? It's Friday. We don't have school tomorrow," Misty pointed out, confused.

"What!?" May and Dawn both turned to Leaf, accusing looks on their faces.

"You never asked what day it was. You just asked for my help on your homework," Leaf shrugged before quickly running towards the garden and the rooms beyond, chased by her two furious friends.

-oOo-

Drake was crouched in front of his motorcycle, messing with its engine. The room he was working in was very similar to the one he had an incident with Angel in four days ago, the day of the orientation. This room was larger, more cluttered, and slightly better lit, but it still brought back memories of what happened. Drake's face reddened just thinking about it.

_Flashback_

_Drake walked around the pool, following Angel. He had passed Gary's phone to Samuel as he wasn't interested in playing keepaway with the others. Eventually, he came to a small, dark room which Angel had entered a few minutes prior. Opening the door, Drake sees Angel pause before shrugging and continuing the work on her bike. He approached her and put his hand on her shoulder. She spun around, swinging the wrench she held at him. Drake jumped back so fast he stumbled into the metal shelving behind him._

"_Easy there!" the boy exclaimed, putting his hands up in an attempt to pacify Angel. He moved off of the shelves, becoming somewhat closer to the wrench-wielding girl without feeling the shelves move even more than they had earlier._

"_What are you doing in here?" Angel demanded. Both her and Drake were ignorant of the loose shelves above them, which fell as Drake opened his mouth to respond. As one knocked him onto Angel, another fell in front of the door, which opened inwards. Because the shelves were solid metal for durability, the teenage boy was pinned on top of the girl, whom he considered slightly attractive. (He obviously didn't say anything about this, seeing as how it was awkward enough.) _

"_Crap," Drake grunted, trying halfheartedly to shift the shelf off of his back. While it was an awkward and uncomfortable position, he kind of liked it. _'Stupid teenage hormones,' _he thought. "Well, this is awkward…"_

"_Really? I hadn't noticed," Angel gasped. Drake noticed her uneven breathing, but attributed it to having the breath knocked out of her when they collided. But he appreciated her attempt at lightening the mood with sarcasm. It was then he noticed how small the distance between them was, and hoped that she couldn't feel how fast his heart suddenly got. "Get off of me right now."_

"_I really wish I could," Drake groaned, not fully meaning it. He would've loved to have the heavy shelf off of his back, but because of his stupid hormones he was slightly enjoying it. He officially hated both puberty and hormones now. Then he registered Angel's terror and remembered the incident with Kuro. He cursed himself in his mind for not realizing earlier, and he blamed that on the hormones making him enjoy this. "You're haphephobic, aren't you?"_

"_Yes! Now get off me!" Angel cried out, pushing on Drake's chest. He noticed the sweat on her brow and heard her start hyperventilating. She had also started to tremble and her face obtaining a pale green hue. Cursing under his breath, he called out. "HEY! ANYBODY HEAR ME!?"_

"_They're probably still playing keepaway. Misty, Leaf, and Dawn can be quite persistent when they want to be," Angel muttered, still pushing against Drake. She was surprisingly strong and Drake got an idea._

"_When I say so, you need to push as hard as you can, okay?" Drake asked. Angel nodded, obviously wanting to get away from the physical contact. Counting to three, Drake told her to push as he did the hardest pushup in his life. They barely got enough room for Angel to squeeze her way out from underneath Drake before his arms gave out and he fell to the ground with the shelf on his back. "Do you think you can move the shelf?"_

_Angel nodded and together they managed to gradually move the metal slab off of Drake's back onto the ground. Then they proceeded to unbarring the door. Overall, it took them over an hour, and once they were done Angel silently opened the door and pointed for Drake to leave. He complied, figuring she probably needed some time alone._

_Flashback End_

Angel still avoided him when possible, even though it had been four whole days. Drake sighed, thinking about how he could get back in her good books, because her deliberate ignorance kind of hurt, though he didn't know why. Then he remembered what his older brother did whenever he wanted to get into somebody's good books. Well, some girl's good books. Now all he had to do was plan it with his brother and pluck up the courage to ask.

-oOo-

***5:30am**** – Saturday*  
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Angel was walking out of her dorm room quietly, leaving a note, both in Braille and written of her departure. As she was dressed in dark blue jogging pants that had a bright powder blue line on the side and a dark jacket that was zipped up half way, showing the light azure shirt underneath it. Attached to her sleeve was her pure black mp3 that was hooked up with a pair of headphones that rested around her neck, underneath it was a meter that read her heart pressure. She started quietly down the hall, as to not wake anyone up. Upon entering the mudroom, she tapped the tip of her shoes on the tile before she walked to the elevator; she swiped the key card that had her ID number on it. Three soft beeps sounded before the light turned green before the elevator opened its doors to allow her in.

As she walked out of the girls' dorm, she saw Drake walk out as well. He was dressed for jogging as well; his clothing was darker, with black jogging pants that had a light red trim at the legs, a matching jacket with a dust grey under shirt. She put on her headphones, turning on her music player as she tapped her foot on the ground again before she took off for her jog. As she jogged along the path nearest to the ocean, the sun rising from the surface of the sparkling waves of the ocean. Drake was jogging slightly behind her, listening to his own music player. Angel continued to jog as she slowed down to a stop. Her breath was escaping her as she tried to breathe evenly. She turned to the oceans calming waves; the gentle breeze pushed her hair out of her face. Soon Drake came up jogging but slowed down enough to stop without being out of breath. "Angel?" he started.

"Hmm? Yeah, what?" She said after she took one ear bud out. Angel said as she stared out at the sun rise over the ocean. Drake took a careful breath before starting to talk to her. "Are you busy today?" he asked as Angel sat on the bench that faced the sandy beach. Angel didn't answer him right away, but she looked at him with a strange look. "Why?" her tone had a slightly tone of confusion as well as it being guarded. Soon she witnessed Drake avoid her eye contact. He sat himself down onto the bench, almost right next to Angel. She tensed a little bit but not as much as from the last encounter with physical contact with him, though she still moved a little away. Drake saw the tensed notion in her body structure as well her moving away, so he slowly and carefully moved almost less of an inch away from her. Though he did not wish for her to take notice of his movement; she saw from the corner of her dark brown eyes.

"Why? U-um…for scaring you the other day…I was in the wrong for entering your work room and for suddenly touching you." He stated as he looked out over the ocean's calming golden yellow color. With how the sun was rising right over the horizon, the colors did well as they blended together. Angel continued to look out over the ocean, thinking about his reason for asking for her schedule. "I am not terribly busy today…" she stated carefully, her long dark brown hair gently moved with the sea breeze. Drake looked at her, a little shocked and a little happy. He smiled greatly at her when she turned slightly to see his reaction. "G-Great! I'll see here at 10…." He asked the last part with a little uncertainty. Angel had a look of shock at his happy reaction then she chuckled a bit before smiling and nodding. Drake said something like he was going to finish his jog before heading back to get ready. She nodded towards that as she watched him go off, smiling like a kid in a candy store that was having a free sale…

Once he was out of sight…a thought entered her mind….her…first…date…

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. She immediately stood up right and ran all the way back to the dorms. She made a beeline for the only way up to her dorm space, the elevator. Once there, she fumbled around in her pockets to find her card key. Once finding it and swiping it. She, impatiently, tapped her foot and fingers as the elevator doors opened, she entered so quickly that she slightly tripped and slipped slightly as she pushed the Princess Dorm Floor button. As she was taken up, she was moving impatiently around the elevator, her thought process was moving to quickly for her to properly think. Once the door opened, she rushed into the mudroom, quickly took off her shoes, but left them on the floor near the area where she normally puts them as she ran to the door, she opened and rushed threw, accidentally slamming it behind her as she continued to move towards her dorm room.

Misty, who was exiting her room, saw Angel rushing towards her room as well as her unusual running, as if she was…panicking? Dawn, who was in the kitchen watched her run passed, without picking up the water bottle that was hers, that she always had ready for when she returned. Leaf, who was sitting on the couch had taken out one ear bud for a spilt second, heard Angel come in at such a rush, she looked at Misty and Dawn as if they might know what was going on. "Angel? Did something happen?" Misty called down the hall. Angel quickly turned to face her door, which she slipped and slid slightly, just like in an anime. She quickly fumbled for her card key to get in her room. "I don't know…." She said with a slight panic in her voice as she entered her room. But she didn't close her door behind her, but instead left it wide open. Misty, Dawn and Leaf carefully went to look in. They saw her standing in her room, looking around as if she was looking for something. April had awoken from her sleep by the noise. "Angel?"

"Sorry April….I…oh god….I don't know what to do…." She sank to the floor. "Angel? What's the matter?" she asked as she sat up on her bed. "Sorry for intruding, but what happened, Angel?" Misty asked. "Drake….he…." Angel said slowly. "What? Did he do something to you?" Leaf asked. "He…asked…..me…on a d-d-d-d-date…later today…I don't know what to do! W-what do I wear on a date? W-what do you do on a d-date? I-I don't know…." She said as if she couldn't figure out anything.

"Angel, calm down." Misty said. "Angel…is this your first time going on a date?" Dawn asked. Angel looked at her with her pupils so wide that it almost took over their brown coloring. "Y-yeah…."

Dawn then smiled greatly. "Then all you need is advice!" Angel looked at her shocked and confused. "Advice?" Dawn smiled became even greater. "Yes, what you need is help in getting ready. Did Drake tell you what you will be doing today?"

Angel shook her head slowly. "Then we need to find that out!" Dawn smiled. "Call him! And ask!" she said. Angel's eyes widen. "C-call him?" she stated. Dawn nodded and said "Yes, call. Now."

Angel took out her phone, and looked at Drake's number, that she had gotten on the first time she had met him. "Put it on speaker too!" Dawn said. "What? Why?" Angel asked. She just smiled. Angel looked at her phone and pressed call and speak phone. The dial tone rang only once. "Ah, Angie! Great timing! I was able to get us some last minute things for later!" Drake said over the phone. "W-what will we be doing?" Angel asked.

"I was able to get us VIP tickets to the new museum on Record Street at 10:30 until 11:30. Then a reservation at the Beach Side Resort for lunch. And afterwards my older brother is coming with our family's boat for a trip to a island we own for a few hours. The season there is still Summerish Autumn…I want to show something there. So bring a swimsuit and a formal dress. See ya at the meeting spot at 10! Bye!" he said with much excitement. Angel was shocked, very shocked.

"A-A museum….a resort lunch…a-and a trip to an island…" Angel's face turned bright pink as well as she was now even more confused on what she should do.

"Well, his older brother is taking you, so it means he is introducing you to his family members… So you have no worries about him trying anything funny…" Leaf stated.

"Trying something funny?" Angel asked as she went to her bed to pull out her suitcase. Angel opened the suitcase to show it was filled with random objects…things that you would normally be placed around to show personality. In her suitcase was a bag that seemed to be fluffy. She pulled it out along with a box that seemed strangely flat. In it was a Pokemon card. It was in poor condition and looked to be something special to her. After that, a wide range of things, but when she got to the clothing items, she pulled out one swim suit. It was a two piece, with a very dark color. "This is the only swimsuit I have…"

Dawn looked at it for a minute and then said, "It's not that cute…rather dull…does it still fit?" Angel looked down and shook her head. "Then, if you'll let me, I can make something out of that one. I enjoy making clothes, and since this is your very first date, we need to make sure you are really ready! Misty, go get May up and see if her mother can come by with some formal dresses. Leaf, I need to you go to try to get Angel into a good outfit for the majority of the day. And April, try to keep her calm." Dawn said as she rushed out to get her clothes making supplies.

As everyone did as they were told, the time soon came to be 10 o' clock. Sitting on the bench was Angel, in an outfit that was picked out by Misty and Leaf. On her lap was what held her new swim suit, made by Dawn, as well as the formal dress from May's mother…

Angel looked at the watch on her wrist to see it was past time for the meeting, with a frown on her face she stood and started to walk over to a vending machine. As she was browsing for the right drink, her face fell when the time frame 10 had come and was slowly passing. She heard her name get called from afar but nothing close. She could only assume she was hearing things, but it had sounded like a mad lion with a tamer…

Angel turned to head back to the beach, which led her to bump into someone in front of her. She made a slightly cute noise as she fell.

"Oh, sorry, miss." He said. Angel slowly stood and replied, "It's quite alright." He smiled as he held out a hand for her to take. She looked up and saw a man with dark red hair and red eyes. "My apologies, for that. Well see ya' around or whatever." He said as he walked away after helping her up.

She watched him leaving but still went to the bench to wait for drake. He came speeding down the road in a sleek black car (the kind Paul would like). Angel smiled slightly as she got in, when he started to apologize for his tardiness. Something about his roommates keeping him busy….

-oOo-

"Who is he!?" Dawn whisper-shouted as she crushed the branches of the bush she was crouched behind, watching Angel's every move. On her left crouched April, a nervous expression on her face, and May on the far side of the blonde girl. All three of them were crouching behind the same bush. Beyond May, Leaf was peeking out from behind an oak tree with one earbud in. In a tree on Dawn's right, Misty crouched among the branches like a hunter waiting to pounce upon her prey.

"I dunno. Never seen him before in my life and I haven't heard any rumors about people that would match his description," Leaf mused, getting confused looks from the other four girls. The brunette shrugged. "I hear more than I let on over my music, especially in the school hallways. Plus, I can easily hear the gossip girls in my classes."

"Can we go yet? We shouldn't be here," April murmured.

"No way! We need to make sure nothing bad happens during Angel's date!" May declared, standing and putting her fist over her chest. Leaf quickly pulled her back down, shushing her.

"If anybody screws this up for Angel, I will personally kill them with my trusty mallet," Misty said, startling both May and Dawn. Not so much because of what she said, but because of where she was when she said it. Somehow, she had gotten from the maple she was crouched in to the oak Leaf was behind. Now the redhead was hanging upside-down from one of its branches by her knees, holding her trusty wooden mallet over her shoulder.

"How'd you get all the way over there?" Dawn asked, her cobalt blue eyes wide.

"And where'd your mallet come from?" May added, her sapphire eyes equally wide.

"Don't you know that I'm a magic ninja?" Misty grinned at the two girls.

"You climbed between the branches of the two trees, which happen to be interlaced together. As for the mallet, you keep it in your purse at all times. Try to be less obvious next time miss I'm-a-magic-ninja," Leaf stated while shaking her head. Misty jumped out of the tree, landed on her feet, and glared at Leaf.

"You're no fun," Misty muttered, crossing her arms and still holding her mallet. Then she noticed Drake pull up in his black car. "Looks like Angel's date is here, so let's get moving!"

"There's no way we can keep up with a moving car on foot!" Dawn shouted after Misty, who had already started sprinting to the road. They all followed the redhead once they realized she wasn't coming back. Angel and Drake had already started driving away when Misty stopped, allowing a red Toyota Prius to pull up to the curb beside her.

"You're late and there's no way we'll all fit in that, Hayden," Misty said as the driver side window opened, revealing the green-haired teen.

"I'm not late and you'll have to squeeze together. One of you can probably sit on Paul's lap in shotgun, and three of the others can sit on somebody else's lap. If you want somebody to thank for your cramped ride, thank hair gel back there," Drew informed the five girls. Before anything else could be said, Dawn ran over to the other side of the car and climbed in. Paul just grunted at her and pulled the seatbelt across their laps. May forced the three boy in the back to squish together before climbing into the car, taking a seat at the end of the bench seat. Leaf ended up on Gary's lap, Misty on Ash's, and April on Samuel's. As soon as everyone was settled in, Misty slugged Gary on the arm harder than she'd hit Ash with her mallet. Misty was one of the select few female teenagers whose hands and feet could be considered deadly weapons.

"Ow! What the heck was that for Mist?!" Gary demanded as he rubbed his arm. Well, tried to; it's kind of hard to rub your arm when there's somebody on your lap. Drew snickered at the brunet's misfortune as he started the car, driving after Drake's black one.

"First of all, don't call me Mist. Second of all, it was for getting us a tiny red car and expecting all ten of us to fit in here like clowns!" Misty shouted. Gary flinched when she compared them to clowns, but stood his ground.

"It's not like red cars aren't that common! You see one ever minute or so! Also, if I'd gotten a van, we would've been spotted faster than Ash at a smart person convention!" Gary retorted.

"Hey! I'm smart!" Ash protested, glaring at his childhood friend.

"You wish, Ashy-boy," Gary snorted. The two of them soon got into an argument, which Misty was also somehow involved in. Leaf put in her other earbud, turning up the music to tune out the yelling that was happening in her immediate vicinity. Samuel and Angel sat together in silence, the former's face redder than the car they were in. Dawn started pestering Paul, trying and failing to get more than five words at a time from him. May watched everything else going on in the car before leaning towards Drew in the driver's seat.

"Are we there yet?" she inquired.

"No. Otherwise we'd be getting out and climbing into the boat I rented airhead," Drew responded, his eyes fixed on the black car he was following. There was a pause, lasting only a few seconds before May spoke again.

"Now?"

"This is gonna be a long ride," Drew sighed, putting his head down on the steering wheel momentarily as they were stuck in a red light.

-oOo-

The car ride with Drake seemed a little silent as Drake drove towards the new museum on Record Street. When they were one block away, Drake pulled into the parking lot, which was located across the street from the building itself. Once out, Drake handed her the VIP tag as he put on his own.

"Thanks," Angel said simply as she put it on herself. Drake smiled as he looked over to his car and pulled out a small box. It was about 6 inches in width and 4 inches in height. Once he had it out, he shut and locked up his car. Another car came from around the corner. It was a dark green car with black marks on it, and in the driver's seat was the same man with red hair and red eyes. He had pulled into an empty space across from where she and Drake were parked. When he got out, he went to the small coffee shop that was across the street from the Museum.

"So, what kind of museum is this?" Angel asked as she and Drake walked over to the museum. Drake smiled as he held opened the door to the entrance.

"It's the newest art museum. It's has things from old art, to new art, to modern art and to…special art," he stated with a smile. Angel smiled slightly, though her smile seemed to be slightly embarrassed. Drake and Angel walked around the museum, with Drake making small notions to the art that looked pretty stupid. Angel would smile and cough out a laugh before she got quiet. Then they walked over to the statue called The Thinker.

"So…this is the thinker. Do you want know what he was thinking about?" Drake said seriously. Angel looked at Drake and then the statue.

"What?" Angel asked, curious about what Drake would say. But Drake leaned to her ear and whispered something, only a few words before he moved away laughing. While Angel was blushing bright red, shocked, Drake started towards some new artwork. Angel then looked angrily at Drake before chasing after him, while calling him a wide range of rude things as he was laughing. As she and Drake came to the part of the Museum where you are able to take pictures of yourself with someone else, Drake pointed towards it with a smile. Angel was still slightly peeved at him, but nevertheless got in the booth with him and took some pictures.

-oOo-

"So Hayden, did you get us some museum passes yet?" Misty said, coming up behind the boy.

"Yes, no thanks to you people," Drew muttered, handing out the passes to the entire group of ten. After he finished, Dawn crammed a baseball cap onto his head. She took the hat Ash was wearing and stuck it on Paul's head backwards before covering Gary's spiky hair with a beanie.

"Hey!" Gary yelped, trying to pull off the beanie with Dawn trying to stop him.

"Your guys' hair is too recognizable! Your hair is distinct because of its spikes, Paul's and Drew's has different coloring, and Ash just can't wear a baseball cap. That way you won't stand out in the crowd," Dawn told him.

"She does have a point. We're trying to spy on them, not let them know we're here," Leaf acknowledged.

"A little warning would've been nice though." Everyone ignored Gary's statement and headed into the museum after Angel and Drake. Only Leaf noticed the red haired man from the park in the nearby cafe. With a frown, she followed her friends inside.

Eventually, they saw the brown-haired couple stop in front of The Thinker, and Ash made an intelligent comment.

"Why are they looking at a constipated naked guy?" he asked, earning himself a smack a la Misty's mallet. He was about to say something indignant (and most likely loud) when Dawn slapped her hand over his mouth, staring at Angel and Drake wide-eyed. Everyone looked over and saw Drake run away, a red-faced Angel chasing him.

"I've gotta know what he said to her," Dawn announced, running after the two. Everyone else sighed and followed the blunette's lead.

-oOo-

As Angel and Drake walked out the Museum to head back out to the car, Angel still wasn't too happy about whatever Drake told her in the museum. Her face was still a blushing red.

"Angel, you walked past the car," Drake called as Angel stopped walking to turn back around. "Are you still mad about what I said?" he asked as he leaned on the car, looking over it to see Angel on the other side. Angel's face got brighter and she stared intently the ground.

"N-not about _what_ you said…more _how_ you said it…" she stated.

"I was simply saying the truth," He said with an honest and serious voice. Angel's face kept on getting brighter, Drake smiled and laughed softly. "Can't be the first time someone complimented you?"

Angel kept silent. Drake stopped smiling for a second. "Angie, if how I said it did bothered you, then how would you prefer it being said?" Angel looked up quickly from where she kept her eyes. She saw how Drake was looking at her; she knew he wanted an answer towards that fact.

"U-um…" Angel didn't answer. Drake simply smiled at her softly.

"Until you know of how you wish to be complemented, I'll keep up with how I did at the Museum, come on it's time to head to the restaurant." Drake said as he unlocked the car and got in. Angel sighed softly as she looked back behind her, looking around the area…feeling like something was watching her. When she saw that a bunch of birds took off in a flight, she turned and got in the car, thinking her mind must have playing some kind of trick on her.

-oOo-

"She almost saw you Ketchum! What do you have to say for yourself!?" Misty whisper-shouted at the boy, soft enough that the couple they were following wouldn't hear, but loud enough to scare off a nearby flock of birds.

"Sorry?" he shrugged, an apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry's not gonna cut it if they catch us Ashy-boy. If it's your fault, get ready to feel Misty's wrath worse than ever before," Gary commented snidely as Angel and Drake drove away. The ten teens piled into the small red car, once more following the black car their friends were inside. Currently Paul was driving with Gary getting shotgun, hoping to stay as far away from Misty as possible, Leaf sitting comfortably on his lap. In the back, Dawn sat on Ash's lap while Drew retained the redheaded she-demon from killing the dense boy. April was once more on Samuel's lap, next to Ash and Dawn, and May was assisting Drew in holding back Misty's wrath.

-oOo-

Once Drake pulled into the parking lot of the Beach Side Resort, he pointed out the side entrance for her to use. He got out himself and went to the truck to get his clothing. Angel entered the room that was on the other side of that door that stated for women. Drake had entered as well but to the name that said for men. In the women's side, Angel worked on getting on her dress that she was borrowing from May's mother. She walked out of the room back to where the car was, dressed in the dress.

The dress had a figure hugging nature to it. The collar line was a v-neck sweetheart, with the arm straps being sheer with a sparkle type appeal. That design came down to where the two straps met and continued down until it stopped around the waistline. Her dress as a whole was a very pretty maroon color. The length of the dress itself was not completely formal but more semi-formal by stopping right above her knees. Around her neck was a borrowed necklace from Dawn's collection of jewelry. It was a simple silver chain with Angel's own light bronze cross on it. Around Angel's wrist was a thin watch that she had put on the inner part of her wrist. She wore a pair of laced boots. The boots laces went up to her knees with it tying up to the top. The heels on those boots were only 2 or 3 inches. Angel had let her hair down, and one side of her bangs was longer than the other side. She pulled out of her bag a small, rare looking gem type clip that she owned personally. It had a very clear shine, glowing with a wondrous color even though it was a pale white. She used it to clip her longer bangs back to the side of her head, though it draped down a bit to not look very stiff.

Angel looked at herself before sighing. "I look so stupid…" she said as she leaned on the car to wait for Drake. She looked from the corner of her eyes to see a red car. That seemed to be everywhere she and Drake were going. She saw it following her and Drake from when she left the beach, then from the Museum… Angel carefully pushed off Drakes car to turn to the car. She looked at the tinted windows to see if there was someone in the car, before she started to walk over; but when a whistle came from a car that had stopped near the drive in to the Resort. Angel turned her head to see who it was. It was Kuro. He opened the door to his car, which he left running at the opening.

"Well, well. If it isn't my girl, Angel. What are you doing here at this dump?" he said as he pushed back his blue hair. His red eyes seemed to laughing at an untold joke. Angel seemed to glare at him as she walked back to Drakes car. Kuro followed her to the car, smiling.

"Do you mind Kuro? I'm waiting for someone. So would you please go away?" Angel said as she turned to go back into the part of the Resort that she had changed in.

"Who are you waiting on?" he smiled.

"That's none of your business." She said as she started to walk away. But Kuro grabbed her arm, yanking her to a stop as well as pulling her back to him.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" he smiled. Angel tensed really quickly as she tried to pulled her arm out of her grip. Kuro then touched her shoulder.

"Let me go….now." Angel said, but her voice wasn't as strong or fierce from before. Kuro took notice of this.

"Is there a problem here?" a voice called out from behind Angel. They both looked back to see a man, the same man from before. The one with red hair and red eyes; his red eyes had a cold and scary look to them.

"No, sir, there's no problem," Kuro stated, letting go of Angel and backing away towards his car, which was still running. Angel seemed to have started to calm down, as she then looked at her wrist where Kuro was holding her. He left a small mark, the faint sign of a strong hold. It stung a bit but what she was worrying about was where Drake was at the moment.

Angel turned back to the man with red hair. "Thank you…um…"

He just smiled softly, before pointing behind him. "Drake is waiting for you inside, he had to get something fixed before you came in to sit. He's at table 14 on the left side. Okay?" he stated. Angel nodded and was about to ask him something when the guy turned away and went to the beach area. Angel then went to the front doors, to be taken to her table with Drake.

-oOo-

"That was a close call," Leaf said as the girls changed into fancy dresses (provided by Dawn) in the changing room. "We're lucky Kuro happened to pull Angel's attention away."

"I told Oak we'd stand out!" Misty shouted, nearly ripping the dress in her fury. She still hadn't calmed down after the fiasco outside the museum.

"Wait, who was it that got Angel's attention?" Dawn asked, confused.

"Kuro. Possibly a bigger flirt than Gary Oak, it seems like me and Angel are his current targets. He's a junior, and rumor has it that he actually has a girlfriend. I also heard his friend Jason has eyes for a certain blonde friend of ours," Leaf said, making sure her dress fit nicely. It was a strapless spring green dress with a knee-length skirt and diamonds around the sweetheart neckline.

"Who? Serena? Bianca?" May wondered, genuinely confused. She was now wearing a ruby red dress with a v neckline and short sleeves. It was slightly longer than Leaf's and the skirt was covered in a sheer material, most likely chiffon.

"No you idiot. She's talking about our blind pal April," Misty replied, pulling out her hair tie and letting her fiery shoulder-length hair down. Her dress was a pale ice blue with sapphires placed strategically to make it shimmer like water in the sunlight. It was sleeveless with straps nearly two inches thick and went down to her knees. She wore black spandex underneath the dress as well because she didn't want any 'panty shots' as they were commonly known.

"Don't insult sweet, innocent, dense May. It's rude," Dawn chastised with a grin as April blushed fiercely. The blunette's dress was bubblegum pink with an asymmetrical neckline, a strap over her right shoulder. The dress was covered in sparkles which refracted the light, causing several small rainbows as Dawn helped April into her dress. April was wearing a more conservative dress, with elbow-length sleeves, a wide neckline, and a long midcalf-length skirt. It was a deep violet, a richer, darker shade than Paul Shinji's hair. Dawn quickly rearranged the girl's hair before they headed out to meet the boys and sit down for their last-minute reservations, courtesy of (guess who?) Drew Hayden, just like everything else they'd used on this (for lack of a better word) expedition. The five boys were waiting outside for them, dressed up in tuxedos with Ash's hat strangely stared wide-eyed at the girls, who looked stunning in their dresses. Dawn smiled at their reactions. (Even Paul's eyes were wider than usual, and she considered that a feat greater than almost any other in her entire life.)

"If you think we look good in these, wait until you see us in the swimsuits I got us," Dawn commented wryly. Then she noticed the red haired man walking towards the docks. "What is he doing here?"

"Who?" Ash asked, turning to look in the same direction.

"That guy with the red hair," Leaf told him, pointing at the man's retreating back.

"He looks kind of familiar," Gary mused, looking in the direction Leaf was pointing.

"He should because he was at the park with Angel," May said, glaring at the man's back.

"We weren't at the park with you airhead. We were in a car. But now that you mention it hair gel, that man does look familiar. I just can't put my finger on it." Drew had also turned to look at him. "What do you think Paul? You know him?"

"He's some big shot movie star," Paul grunted, hands in his pockets. Dawn gasped.

"You actually said more than five words at a time!" she exclaimed. Paul just grunted again before turning to walk inside, the others following him.

-oOo-

Once Angel was inside the restaurant, she was immediately seated with Drake, who was dress like Angel, in a nice outfit meant for a fancy dinner. "I'm really sorry about not coming to get you…hey what happened to your wrist?" he asked as he saw the swelling and the small part of purple. Angel simply smiled and shook her head. "It's nothing, okay. So what are the prices here?"

Drake looked at her wrist before looking at her with a sorrowful expression before telling her. "The prices here are from 30 to 40 dollars a meal." Drake said as he gave her a menu.

"I don't think I could afford to eat here….I didn't bring my wallet…" Angel stated as she looked at Drake with a sad smile. Drake smiled and held up a finger. "I'm paying….just get whatever you want okay?"

Angel frowned slightly before opening the menu to find something….something inexpensive. But most of the items were from 35 to 45 dollars. When the waiter came in, he asked for what they wanted to drink. Drake said he wanted a Dr. Pepper. Angel looked at the drinks and said she would like a Dr. Pepper as well. After taking that down, he asked for what they would like as an appetizer. Drake looked towards Angel who was still trying to find something that would not be so expensive. "Mozzarella Sticks would work." He told the waiter, who noted it down and worked his way back to the spot where the drinks where. Angel had finally found something she would like and was not overly priced, so she now decided to take in her surroundings. They were seated at a table that had windows to the left and right of them, while Angel and Drake sat in front of each other in a sort of north to south way.

Angel and Drake talked to each other until the drinks and the mozzarella sticks came. The waiter asked what they would like to eat. "I'll have the Resort's special of today." Drake said.

"That would the 9oz. Steak cut up into bite size, placed over a well froze lettuce. Anything else you want on it?" the waiter inquired

"Yes, the carrots and purple onions sauté please." Drake said. "Very well, and for you miss?" Angel looked at her menu again to say what she wanted. "Um, the shrimp salad with carrots and onions sauté please?" The waiter smiled and wrote it down as he walked back to the kitchen area.

"You know, it's a little strange to see you in a dress." Drake smiled. Angel fidgeted in her seat with a blush on her face.

"I'm not exactly used to being in dresses or the things of that type of clothing…" she said softly.

"Angie, you look great, and as I said in the museum…" he started.

Angel blushed and quickly started. "Don't you dare say it…"

"You look beautiful." Drake smiled, with a smile. Angel's face lit up quickly before she hid her face behind her hands. Drake continued to smile and slightly chuckle. "Really, Angie…I'm not messing with you. You truly are a very pretty, cute and a beautiful girl…" Drake continued to smile as he could see her face getting redder from embarrassment. He leaned on his palm as he watched her reaction with a smile. "Really, any guy would tell you when he would go on a date with you. If any of the guys at school ever tried to tell you…"

"I would probably punch them in the nose…" Angel stated. Drake looked at her slightly confused. "Why?"

Angel took a soft breath before looking off to the side, looking away from Drake. "Angel, would you punch me, if I told you all that at school?" Angel sighed softly. "No…" Drake smiled before asking again. "Then why anyone else?"

"Because…I would never want them to call me those things…" Angel stated. Drake looked at her for a bit. "Then, what about if you were on a date with one of them, how about then?"

Angel was silent for a still second before answering. "No…because I would never go on a date with one of them…" Angel stated simply. "I'm on a date with you because this is your apology for what happened earlier this week….a-and…"

Drake looked at her slightly confused. "And?" Angel sighed as she picked up a mozzarella stick to nibble on. "Angie? What did you mean?" Angel continued to nibble.

"This…is the first time I've been on a date…meaning I don't simply say yes to someone who asks me on a date…or ask for help…I really need to thank my roommates…" she said with a sad expression, but with a smile.

"What's wrong?" Drake asked as they continued to eat the appetizer.

"I was completely clueless for how this whole date thing was suppose to go…I ended up get help from them…and asking and accepting help is the same with dating for me…it's just not something I do…I'm not exactly one to go on dates, ask for help or of the sort…So…this is my first time on a date…as well as getting help for something."

Drake smiled softly as he reach into his pocket and pulled out the box from earlier in the day. He put it in front of Angel, who was looking at it and then Drake. "Open it." He smiled. Angel carefully picked up the box and opened it from the part that you lifted up. Inside the box was a small pale blue and silver rose trinket box. Angel looked at Drake shocked as she gently lifted it up out of the box to look at it. Memories of her past entered her mind. Her head was bent downwards, and Drake couldn't see her eyes anymore, but then he saw tears fell from her cheek onto the table, she lifted her head to see him and she smiled happily. Her face had a soft look, her smile was very happy and her eyes cried out of a memory.

"Thank you…Drake…thank you." She smiled as she held it close to her chest.

Drake smiled. "Of course, Angel. It's something special…and it was slightly my fault for breaking it…" Angel slowly stopped her crying as she smiled at the box, she opened it and she saw everything was still in there along with a small rose. She smiled at Drake. After she put it in her bag their food came out. Angel was smiling with a slight blush on her face, while Drake was also smiling as they ate.

After a while, they both finished their food, when the waiters came and cleared the table and other tables around them. Angel looked around and then at Drake, who was smiling. She saw him stand and offer his hand when a slow song came on. She laughed and took his hand. "I knew I wouldn't be able to get away from it…" she smiled.

Drake laughed. "Yup, you talk smack about my dancing…you just need to learn to dance with a partner…and this is a great way to do it." Drake laughed. Angel smiled slightly, with a small embarrassment as well. "Let's start at the top; you remember what we have to do right?" Drake asked.

Angel nodded. "Of course, the teacher wouldn't stop talking about it until everyone got it exactly right…" she smiled as they started what the dance class was working on. Since Angel and Drake were dance partners in the class, because he was the only guy Angel let get anywhere close to her, let alone touch her. As they danced in time with the music. Angel started to laugh. Drake raised an eye brow as they continued to dance. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just…you seem to be full of surprises…" Angel smiled. As they continued to dance out of the routine they were learning in the schools dance class to something they knew on their own. As she danced out of the formation, Drake spun her slowly as he moved in a circle. Angel continued to smile as she danced with him. The song started to come to the end and Drake surprised her with a low dip. Angel squeaked slightly as he laughed to pull her back up. Angel laughed at his face while pointing at him.

"What?" Drake said. Angel cough to stop laughing but it didn't work very well. "We danced…while you have food on your face…." She giggled, trying to stop laughing. "Huh?" he looked in the reflection of a plate that was decorated as a wall ornament. He saw that he a small piece of carrot near his mouth. "Is that why you kept laughing?" he asked. Angel smiled, still trying to hold in her laughter.

-oOo-

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Dawn cooed as she watched the couple dancing. She rested her elbows on the table with her chin on her palms, breathing a dreamy sigh.

"It might be sweeter if Angel wasn't laughing about the food on his face," Misty commented, bored by the scene. She picked up the bill, her eyes widening in shock before she passed it on to Drew. The boy's face paled significantly when he saw how expensive the meal was and cursed under his breath.

"Hey Leafy. Recognize that dance they're doing?" Gary smirked, testing his partner's knowledge.

"No. Miss Fantina LeBeau only went over the steps, like, a thousand times," Leaf replied sarcastically, 'accidentally' stomping on his foot. Everyone laughed at this before May pulled Drew out of his seat towards the dance floor. He stopped and handed the bill to the waiter before allowing the brunette to continue dragging him along. Dawn followed May's lead, dragging Paul while Gary did the same to Leaf. Misty, Ash, Samuel, and April sat in silence together for a few minutes.

"I can't take this. Ash, we're dancing because I can't just sit here!" Misty blurted, dragging the raven-haired boy on the dance floor. After a few seconds, Samuel followed her lead, but much more politely, as he actually asked April if she wanted to dance. Ash and Misty nearly bumped into Angel and Drake several times, but the two didn't seem to notice. Otherwise the dancing went smoothly until it was time for them to leave.

-oOo-

Drake received the check and wrote a strange letter on it before handing it back to the waiter. He smiled and held open a door that led to the Beach Side Resorts' dock. There was a boat that was nicely sized, and standing at the boats boarding area was the boats' captain. Dressed as a professional captain he welcomed them on the boat. Angel looked around to see if the red haired man from before would be near, just so she could thank him. "Are we ready to leave, Lance?" Drake asked.

"Of course, I made sure everything was ready from when you contacted me this morning, Drake." The captain stated as he pushed up his captain's hat. It was the red eyed, red haired man. Angel looked at him slightly shocked. "Angel, this is my older brother, Lance. You might recognize him from many places. He works in the music department, acting department, and other places if I'm not mistaken…"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Angel. It's nice that my younger brother finally found someone who doesn't mind his thick-headedness…and he allows me to meet." Lance smiled as he went up to the spot to move the boat towards the island. "It will be around an hour before we reach the island, so if you want go ahead and change into your swimsuits, you can get some good rays here on this side of the ocean."

Angel nodded and looked at the bag that held her swimsuit, the one that Dawn had made from her old one. She entered the room to change, locking the door behind her. After a short time she walked out, seeing that Drake had also changed into his swim trunks. They were black with a dark green stripe going down the outer side of them. Angel came out in a two pieces, the top one covering her chest nicely and tied into a bow in the middle with a thin string that tied in the back. The bottoms where the same with the same type of bow at both sides of the hips. The main parts of the swimsuit was a dark blue, nearly black, and the bows and string were a brown color. No matter how much she tried covering herself, she didn't really feel comfortable. Drake saw her walk out and his face turned bright red.

"W-what? Does it look weird?" Angel asked as she used her bag to cover up the front of her chest and over half of her face. Drake had to shut his jaw, when he heard his brother laughing.

"Don't worry Angel, that is the average boy's reaction to a girl he likes in a hot swimsuit," Lance called from the inside of the boat. Drake staring after hearing what his brother said.

"Lance!" he said angrily. Angel smiled slightly as she saw Drake run into the room where his brother was. Angel heard, well anyone on the water could hear this, Drake yelling at his brother for something along the lines of 'saying too much.'.

Lance's laughter could be heard as well as the yelling as they bickered back and forth. Angel smiled and sat against the edge of the boat to look out on the ocean. She smiled as she breathed the sea breeze and felt the ocean's spray on her skin. Not too many boats were out, and there shouldn't be any following them to the island since it belongs to Drake's family. Angel smiled as she watched the crystal waters below; her hand gently touched the surface as the boat moved through the waters. She sat against the side as she moved her ankle slightly, looking at the burn tattoo on the inner ankle…the one of the volcano. She silently prayed that no one would recognize it or ask about it.

-oOo-

"So that's Drake's mysterious older brother!" Dawn shouted as they loaded onto their boat. (Which, surprise, was provided by Drew.)

"I can't believe he's related to the famous Lance Stevens and didn't even tell me," Gary said, a hurt look on his face. It turned into an actual look of pain when Leaf smacked him on the back of his head.

"Shut it Oak. We'll pity you, the grandson of famous Professor Oak, never," Leaf told him with a smirk.

"I swear Misty's rubbing off on you Leafy," Gary muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Misty demanded, a dangerous look on her face. Gary quickly backpedaled, trying to make it so she wouldn't clobber him.

As soon as that little confrontation was over, (meaning Misty had pounded Gary enough to calm down,) the groups split up to change into their swimsuits. Drew's boat had a chauffeur so everyone could change at once. Once they were all changed, they lounged around the boat, occasionally (or, in the case of Ash, Misty, and Gary, frequently) getting into fights. Usually, Ash and Misty would be leaning over the edge of the boat, wearing red swim trunks with dark blue stripes down the sides and a solid red bikini respectively. They were enjoying the ocean spray caused by the moving boat. Leaf lay on the deck in a goldenrod off-shoulder crop top, tied in the front, over a forest green bikini. Gary, wearing solid purple swim trunks and a partially unbuttoned short-sleeved black collared shirt, was bothering her constantly. May was wearing a yellow halter bikini with small pink hearts on her right hip and where the strap met the top piece on the left. She was being teased by Drew, who was dressed in purple swim trunks with black stripes down the side. Dawn, dressed in a yellow and orange bikini, was bugging Paul, who lay on the deck in a pair of black swim trunks. April and Samuel sat together in the shade. She wore a one piece strapless neon green swimsuit with a long piece red piece of sheer fabric tied around her waist while he wore a red tanktop and black board shorts. It was then Ash brought up a very intelligent concern, surprising everyone. Both because none of them had thought of that, and it was something smart. From Ash.

"How exactly are we gonna get on the island? Isn't it private property?" After a few seconds, everybody else's mouths started working.

"Did Ashy-boy just…" Gary trailed off, still too stunned to finish his sentence.

"Say something smart that we hadn't thought of already? Yeah," Leaf finished for him.

"But it's a valid point," Drew said, putting his hand to his chin in thought. Everyone else mimicked him as they too thought of how to get past the problem.

"W-well… Why don't we just ask?" Samuel suggested nervously. He blanched under the other nine teenagers' sudden attention.

"Ask who? We can't ask Drake because then he'll know we followed him," Dawn pointed out.

"We don't ask Drake… We ask his brother Lance!" April shouted victoriously. After a short pause, she realized everyone was probably staring at her and waiting for an explanation. "Since we can't ask Drake for permission, and we have no idea who his parents are, then the only other person we can logically ask is his brother Lance. So when we get there we just ask him if we can come onto the island."

"But what if he asks who we are and why he should let us on?" May asked.

"Well, I know Red would definitely want to know what's going on during my first date with somebody. So I bet he'd let us as long as we tell him what happens." Ash said.

"That's brilliant Ashy-boy! How are you not this smart all the time?" Gary said, clapping the raven-haired boy on the back.

"Who's Red?" Misty asked.

"Red is Ash's older brother," Leaf said. Ash looked at her confused.

"How'd you know that? Did Gary tell you?" he asked.

"Nope. I swear you have horrible memory Ashy-boy. Lemme see… When you were three years old I pushed you out of a tree and you broke your arm," Leaf said. Ash's brow furrowed as he tried to remember a day from thirteen years ago. Suddenly his face cleared in understanding.

"OH! You're that Leaf Green! The one that moved six years ago!" Ash shouted.

"Took you long enough," Gary said, rolling his eyes. "I recognized her right away."

"Well… I got a better grade than you in P.E. five years in a row!" Ash yelled.

"I wasn't trying those five years! I bet I could get better grades with a broken leg!" Gary shouted back.

"I could beat you both with both my legs broken," Misty bragged. Soon after, everyone was back to doing exactly the same thing as before Ash's brilliant ideas, aside from Leaf, who was peacefully sunbathing while listening to her tunes.

-oOo-

Once Angel and Drake stepped on the small docking area of the island, which led to a beach house. Drake smiled at Angel before pointing at the cliff side hill. "That's where we are going. You want to go now, or rest a bit?" he asked as he moved off the boat. He now had an unbuttoned shirt on covering himself a little. Angel, who still felt uncomfortable in the swimsuit, had put on a jacket over her shoulders. She nodded as they both set out towards the cliffside hill.

As Angel and Drake worked their way to the cliff through the forest around them. Angel saw a wide range of animals and birds, all bright and full of colors. The flowers were so beautiful and in full bloom. Angel stopped to look at one of the flowers. A rose…a Spanish Rose… Drake saw that Angel was smiling down upon the flower. He smiled as he walked back and gently picked the flower and brushed off all the thorns and any bugs as he put it in Angel's hair, pulling back the longer parts of her bangs. She looked down with wide eyes as well as a blush. She carefully looked up at him; he was still smiling at her. They both stared at each other, Angel who was blushing from the flower and Drake who was smiling at her.

The sun's rays gently moved through the trees to shine down on them and the ocean's breeze seemed to try make them move. Angel's hair seemed to gently blow with the wind as she quickly looked down after she realized that the both of them where staring at each other. Drake, who also seemed to have caught on at that moment, quickly looked back up to the sky where the sun was sending it gentle rays of light. Drake laughed awkwardly as he held out his hand. "I know you don't like being touched…but the trail gets harder to walk from here…" he stated.

Angel looked at his hand, her heart seemed to speed up… She couldn't really figure out if it was from fear like before or if for another reason… She slowly took his hand, which he held gently, knowing how she is afraid of touching others. He smiled as he helped her at any of the areas where the path gets difficult. After a while of moving forward, he moved a branch from their view to show the cliffside hill. It was completely covered in tropical flowers! Ranging from yellows to oranges to pinks to reds to blues to greens to any other color that was not thought to be possible. Angel smiled at the sight as it was very pretty with the crystal blue ocean behind them and with the deep blue sky from above.

Drake slowly let go of her hand, of which she continued to hold. Her head was slightly down with a blush. He smiled as she started to lean against his arm.

Angel and Drake walked over to the wide range of flowers that seemed to surround the cliff. As they watched the ocean down below, a twig snapped behind them. Drake turned to see an older man with slicked back dark red hair and menacing dark red eyes. He stood with his arms folded behind him. He was dressed in a dark red outfit, in a sort of business suit style. Drake looked at him as he stood in front of Angel as if to protect her. "I'm sorry sir, but this is a private island…can you please escort yourself off this land?"

The man simply smiled, before he turned his head to Angel, who was still facing the ocean. "It's been a while…Angelica…" he said with a smile. Drake turned his head slightly to Angel who still didn't move. Drake looked back at the man, who was still smiling at Angel. "Angelica, you still haven't return back to the base…Why waste your time here, being surrounded by this water?"

Drake frowned at the strange man. "Who are you?"

The man smiled at him before pointing at Angel. "Ask her."

Drake then turned, but only slightly. Angel sighed before turning to the man. "What do you want… Maxie? I'm not in the mood for your games…" she said with a dark tone of voice.

"Isn't obvious, my dear daughter? I'm here to take you back to base, seeing as all of my other subordinates failed to bring you back. You left without giving your report on the last mission to Iron Island and failed to send in what you were sent to acquire. I believe it was the Rare Mineral Ore?" he smiled as he started to walk around towards Angel.

"First off, I never was and never will be your daughter. Secondly, I can easily get away from you here as I did from all the rest of your grunts," Angel said as she stood her ground. Maxie laughed once. "You can get away on your own… But what of this lad here? Or your classmates and dormmates? I'm sure you know if you up and disappear again, you know what will happen to them. Just as the last ones you made contact with."

Angel frowned as she glared at her old boss. "Plus, my little Evil Angel, you never opposed me before your Mission to Iron Island…Was destroying that island and stealing that Ore really the final straw?"

Angel remained silent before she replied carefully. "What makes you think I was the one who failed that part of the mission?"

"We found your Den-Mother, coaching you on how to escape with the Ore while as well as to defuse the bomb fast enough to escape without anyone of our members to catch you…"

Angel's eyes widened for a few seconds before she looked so angry that if looks could kill, Maxie would be dead a thousand times over. "What did you do with Mother Clarisse?"

Maxie smiled as he laughed. "She was properly punished for her betrayal, and is waiting for your return…"

From the look on Angel's face was clear that she was losing her calm composure. She slowly reached around her back into the light jacket she was wearing and she pulled out small metal-like daggers, only they were a light purple. She held them up for Maxie to see. He smiled at her. "It's very much like you, my Evil Angel, to turn the rare mineral ore into multiple small weapons… Hand them over…and let's head back to base. You really need a debriefing as well as your punishment for your unannounced leave…"

-oOo-

As the boat docked, they sent April, Drew, and Samuel over as the 'negotiators' according to Ash, Gary, May, and Dawn. They sent Drew because of his suavity, April because she's good at reading people's emotions despite not being able to see their faces, and Samuel because it was was his idea. They didn't have to go very far because Lance met up with them on the docks.

"You do know this is a private island, right?" he asked them seriously. Drew nodded before speaking.

"You see, we're friends of Angel and Drake-" Drew was cut off abruptly as he was about to launch into what was no doubt a well-planned speech.

"To be specific, I'm Angel's roommate and he's Drake's. The others are our dormmates," April said.

"Who are 'the others?' I only see you three," Lance said.

"Right. Misty, Leaf, May, Dawn, Paul, Ash, and Gary are all still on board. We wanted to get your permission before we all came onto the island since it's private property. Oh, and my name's April, he's Drew, and this is Samuel," April said with a smile.

"Well, that's considerate. Why exactly would you want to come onto the island now?" That was a very good question from Lance, and Drew had an answer that danced around the point.

"You see, we considered it a good idea to-" April 'accidentally' stepped on Drew's foot because she knew what he was doing, and figured it wouldn't help their case at all.

"These idiots thought it would be a good idea to spy on Angel and Drake's date, and we've been following them since the park. I have to say, Dawn was pissed when she thought you were some random guy who could possibly get in the way of their date," April told Lance, who smiled.

"You said 'these idiots,' which implies you didn't think this is a good idea. If you consider it a bad idea, then why are you here?" Another wonderful question from Lance, but Drew didn't have an answer for this one.

"Well, it's not safe to leave a blind girl home alone and Samuel has no backbone. The other eight came because they wanted to," April said simply.

"Very true," Lance chuckled. He thought for a moment before continuing. "I guess it's okay for you to continue, since you've gotten this far. However," -Here Lance paused for dramatic effect- "You have to tell me everything about it in the end. Deal?" Lance stuck his hand out and Samuel placed April's in it since she couldn't see.

"Deal," she said as she shook Lance's hand. After they let go, he gave Samuel a small card.

"So you can contact me later. You seem like the least likely person to lose it," Lance said with a smile. "Now get going. Drake and his girlfriend headed up to the flowery cliff. It's not that hard to find if you follow the path."

"Thanks!" April said before turning in Drew's general direction. "You heard the man. Get the rest of the spies and tell them that the negotiations were a success!"

As Drew headed back onto the ship, Lance laughed. "Negotiations?" he asked.

"Well, that's what about half of them are calling us. 'The Negotiators.' Sounds dramatic, right?" April joked. Once all of the 'spies' were onshore, Lance wished them luck before they all headed up the path. Eventually they all got to the cliff and quickly hid behind bushes and trees. Or in the trees in the cases of Misty and Ash. It was then that an older red-haired man came out of trees on the far side of the clearing. As he spoke, Drew stiffened. He recognized that man from less than two months ago.

_Flashback_

_A red-haired man sat behind a desk, dressed in gray pants and a long red and gray overcoat._

_"I brought the boy to fulfill his father's debt, Boss," a hooded man said._

_"I can see that, Tabitha," the boss replied. By now, Drew was fully awake and struggling to escape Tabitha's grip. "He's rather feisty, isn't he?"_

_"I caught him trying to run. But I can probably break him before the month's out," the man assured his boss._

_"Very well. I give you my permission to do whatever you need to prepare him. Just try to ensure he's healthy when it's time for him to pay the debt," the red-haired man sighed, dismissing them with a wave of his hand. Tabitha dragged the juvenile out of the office with a malicious grin on his face._

_Flashback end_

Drew was broken out of his memory by a sudden movement. He hadn't heard everything that had been said, but he knew it sounded malicious towards Angel. Glancing at the movement, he saw that April had stood, trembling but looking furious.

"You leave her alone! She's done nothing wrong and I don't care what you say but she couldn't have been on Iron Island," she said. Everyone stared at the blind girl in shock.

"And how would you know that?" Maxie asked her.

"Because this 'Rare Mineral Ore' you're talking about can be found in only one place, and it was a small deposit. I have most of it, and somebody I trust has the rest. I never got her name and I could never hope to see her face. Not even Riley knew about the Ore, so not even he knows what she looks like," April said, glaring at the man.

"Really?" Maxie said, intrigued by this strange girl's words.

"Stop lying to him April. You don't have it," Angel shouted, her voice laced with hidden meaning. Aside from the tightening of a fist, it seemed as though Angel's words went unheard.

"I've never lied in my entire life and I don't plan to now. Not now, and not ever. There's never a reason to lie," April said fiercely.

"If you have this ore, then where is it?" Maxie asked.

"Not here," was April's response. Misty grinned as an idea formed. She quickly moved to Ash's tree and whispered something in his ear before hanging upside down to tell Leaf something. Leaf passed the message on to the others, and everyone nodded. During this time, Maxie had gotten nowhere with April and Angel.

"Tell me where it is!" he demanded.

"Never! Breaking your word is a form of lying!" April shouted back at him. Misty and Ash quickly moved through trees in the clearing as the other teenagers quickly found sticks, stones, vines, and other things. Surprisingly, it seemed to be Samuel who was leading them.

"I will give you both one more chance to hand over the Ore. I will count to five," Maxie said. The two girls glared at him.

"One." Misty and Ash were now in the two trees on either side of Maxie.

"Two." Samuel was quickly building something out of the various parts they had gathered.

"Three." Dawn and Paul were working together to send a morse code signal to Lance on the boat using a compact mirror the girl had brought in a small purse for unknown reasons.

"Four." Lance was now sending a return message and Paul was interpreting it before having Dawn send another.

"Five." With a yell, both Ash and Misty jumped out of the trees onto Maxie. Samuel was pulling back the arm on a makeshift trebuchet of twigs, leaves, and vines.

"FIRE!" he yelled. In all honesty, he had never spoken that loud in his entire life, much less to his companions. This was loud enough that Lance, who was still on the boat preparing for emergency evacuation from the island, could hear it echoing to him, although it was still incoherent. Misty and Ash quickly moved before the rocks that the trebuchet launched could hit them.

"Hold him down Ash!" Misty said as she pulled her trusty mallet out of nowhere. Ash wisely didn't argue, holding Maxie to the ground while Misty clobbered the unfortunate man with the large wooden hammer until he was half-dead and begging for mercy. Misty paused after the twentieth swing.

"Should I stop?" she asked. By now everyone else had come and surrounded Maxie, who was lying prone on the ground. Drew was in the back, with everybody else between him and Maxie.

"Yes, but lemme take a swing," Angel said, holding her hand out for Misty's mallet. The redhead slowly parted with her weapon, which held a special place in her heart. Angel took it, skillfully spun it around in her hand like a professional.

"This is for Mother Clarisse," Angel said, swinging the mallet. "This is for April." Another swing, harder this time. "And this one is for me." She raised the wooden tool high above her head before bringing it down hard. She then turned to the others. "Any takers?"

Silently, Paul took it and swung a couple times before holding it out. Ash tried to take it next, but it was nearly to heavy for him. Instead of a swing, it was more like a 'hold-above-your-head-and-let-it-drop.' Misty then picked it up with the intention of taking a few more swings. Suddenly, they all heard a chopper above them and saw a red helicopter with an M-shaped volcano on it. A ladder dropped and a woman with short purple hair and light purple eyes quickly descended. She looked straight at Angel, completely ignoring everybody else who quickly surrounded their friend.

"You won't be clear forever, Evil Vile Angel. You'll always be part of Team Magma whether you want to or not, as proven by the mark you bear. And I hope you don't care too much about Clarisse because she won't care about you after this," she said before throwing something to the ground. Smoke billowed from the ground, engulfing the group. By the time it cleared, Maxie and the woman were far away in the chopper.

"What the crap was that all about?" Gary asked.

"Evil Vile Angel? That's an interesting name," Leaf said, turning to Angel.

"What does she mean the 'mark you bear?'" Dawn wondered.

"And who's Clarisse?" Ash said.

"Well, if you're all gonna ask me questions, then I get to ask you one: What in the blazes are you doing here?" Angel crossed her arms and waited for an answer. Eventually, it was April who answered.

"Dawn and May decided to spy on your date, and then convinced Leaf and Misty to. They couldn't leave me behind, so I had to come too. Misty apparently got Drew in on it, who got Gary in, who got Ash. I don't know why Paul is here, and Samuel doesn't have a backbone so he came too," April said without a single breath or pause.

"Wow," Drake said, at a loss for words.

"Well, I'll answer your questions later because I really don't feel like doing it now. Plus I don't feel like I owe you anything right now seeing as how you were spying on us," Angel stated.

"How did you guys even get here anyways?" Drake asked them.

"Drew got a boat and Lance gave us permission as long as we told him how it went," April answered once again as everyone except Paul became very interested in their feet, and Paul wasn't going to answer anytime soon.

"I say we all go home," Leaf suggested, and everybody nodded in agreement before trudging back down to the docks. Once there, Lance asked if everyone was okay and what happened, getting incoherent mumbling as an answer. Less than ten minutes after leaving the clearing, they were all on their way back to Almia's mainland.

* * *

><p><em>Espeon: Dang, we just dropped a serious bombshell.<em>

Misty: No, really?

**Umbreon: yeah, well Angel's past is a little shadowed with mystery...**

**_Espeon: And I'm gonna unshadow it!_**

Leaf: Does that mean next chapter you'll explain everything about Angel's past?

_Espeon: Well no. Next chapter is our really late Halloween special. Once again, we're really sorry about that._

__**Umbreon: yes, the following chapter is our along awaited Halloween Special..as well as Angel's Birthday chapter!**__

_Espeon: Oh crap! I just realized we skipped over May and Dawn's birthdays by doing that! Well, May's is in September, so happy birthday to you May, and Dawn, yours is close enough to Halloween that we can celebrate it in that chapter._

May: I want strawberry cake as an apology for skipping my birthday!

_Espeon: Alright, but don't let Erza see. She loves strawberry cake so much some people ship her with it. *Gives May cake*_

**Umbreon: Sorry May, Dawn...I started Angel's Birthday Chapter because of my own birthday in the month of October...and Halloween is such a fun thing to put in a chapter special...**

****May: *Eating Strawberry Cake* S'okay. I've got cake.****

Dawn: And my birthday's only four days before Halloween. It should be easy to add in! For my birthday, I want a date with Paul!

Paul: Hn. Fine, Troublesome.

_Espeon: Did Paul just..._

_**Umbreon: ...Paul...willingly...said yes to a Date with Dawn...CONSIDER IT DONE AND DONE! I WILL START WORKING ON YOUR BIRTHDAY DATE WITH PAUL! COME, ESPEON! WE HAVE WORK TO DO!**_

_Espeon: INDEED! I WILL CUT THIS A/N SHORT JUST SO WE MIGHT WRITE THIS ASTOUNDING SURPRISE DATE THAT PAUL SPRUNG ON US! On a totally unrelated note, my younger brother Moron's birthday just happens to be the same day as yours Dawn._

Dawn: Really?

_Espeon: Yep._

**Umbreon: *already in our discussion room* ESPIII! Come on! We have WORK TO DO! WE need to find the best places for their VERY FIRST DATE! JUST LIKE ANGEL AND DRAKE'S!**

_Espeon: OKAY! JUST GIMME A SEC TO WRAP UP THE A/N! Please review and tell us what you want to happen in future chapters, if not just to keep us out of our emo corners! Every review counts for that! Now please excuse me while I talk to Umbreon about the IkariShipping date! Espeon out! Peace! *Runs over to discussion room* What if we-_

Dawn: Do Paul and I get a say in this?

**_Espeon and Umbreon: NO!_**


End file.
